THE POPULAR 

GEOGRAPHY iVt^ 

op 

-^i NEW YORK 

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» 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A GEOGRAPHY 



OF 



NEW YORK STATE 



PHYSICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE 



,J^ 



JACQUES WP'REDWAY 

AUTHOR OF A SERIES OF GEOGRAPHIES, PHYSICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, " A TEACHER'S 

MANUAL OF GEOGRAPHy," "a MANUAL OF SAND- AND CLAY-MODELLING, AND 

MAP-DRAWING," " STUDIES IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY," "A GEOGRAPHY 

OF PENNSYLVANIA," " THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE 

UNITED STATES." 



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PUBLISHED BY 

W^ . D . I-C E R R 

NEW YORK 



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Copyright, 1890,^^ JACQUES IV. REDU'AY. 



FOREWORDS. 



BEYOND a division of the subject into topics, I have not 
attempted to present any improved methods of teaching 
it. I might have exploited some of my own pedagogical 
fads, but from my experience with the teachers of the state, 
I take it they have enough good judgment to properly use 
this manual, without any worry on my part as to the ortho- 
doxy of the methods employed. It has been my chief en- 
deavor to gather and present geographical information, and 
the only suggestion I make is, that, so far as possible, the 
fact and the reason therefor shall go hand-in-hand. 

I know of no other region whose physiography is so inter- 
esting as that embraced in New York and the New England 
States, and I have therefore dwelt much on its physical 
geography, past and present. Inasmuch as the state owes its 
commercial supremacy mainly to certain of these physio- 
graphic features, I think it well to impress their importance 
upon the attention of the student. 

J. W. R. 

New York, November i, iSgo. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introductory 5 

Mountains 6 

Waters of the Atmosphere lo 

Glaciers i6 

Rivers 21 

Lakes 24 

Islands 28 

The Origin of Certain Minerals 31 

Position and Extent 39 

Surface Features — Mountains 42 

Surface Features — Rivers 47 

Surface Features— Lakes 50 

Natural Resources — Climate and Soil 52 

Natural Resources — Productions 55 

People — Social and Political Features 60 

People — Industrial Features 66 

H isroRicAL 70 

Centres of Population — Cities 74 

Centres of Population — Villages S3 

Appendix — Notes, etc 9^ 



PART I. -PHYSICAL. 



I. INTRODUCTORY. 

The surface of the state is diversified by hills and dales, 
mountains and valleys, lakes, rivers, heaths, and forests. 
From Montauk Point to Niagara Falls — from Rouse's Point 
to the Pennsylvania Triangle — there are scarcely two succes- 
sive miles in which the scenery is not an ever-shifting pano- 
rama. As time goes, it was only a few generations since the 
state was a forest- covered wilderness. Yet, during past ages, 
it has been more than once covered by the sea, and it has been 
lifted above the sea a thousand feet or more higher than it is 
to-day; it has been covered many hundred feet deep under a 
shroud of ice and snow, and it has been swept over by the 
waters of lakes and rivers of enormous size. Who shall tell 
when the benignant winds that now bear the refreshing rains 
shall be turned hence, and the fertile hills and valleys, now 
flushed with flowers, shall become a sere, parched desert } 

In the following pages we shall learn how the forces of 
nature have operated to make the surface of the state what it 
now is, — how it has been wrinkled and cockled by gradual 
contraction, — how the lake-basins have been scoured out, — 
the mountain-folds worn off, — and the valleys filled with 



6 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

nutritious soil. We may find why New York is the first state 
in agriculture, in manufacture, in commerce, and in pros- 
perity. All these things are governed by physical laws, and 
until we know something about their operation, we cannot 
intelligently study the geography of our state. 

2. MOUNTAINS. 

Sometimes one may notice an apple that has become 
wrinkled and shrivelled. When it was first picked from the 
tree, it was large and plump, and the skin fitted tightly about 
the fruit. In the course of time much of the juice disap- 
peared, and the spongy pulp contracted in size. But the 
skin of the apple, in trying to fit itself about a smaller fruit, 
could do so only by wrinkling and cockling. It is the same 
way with the hand of an old man. Some of the fatty tissue 
has been absorbed, and the skin, in trying to fit itself around 
a somewhat smaller hand, must therefore be drawn into 
wrinkles and folds. 

Mountains are earth-wrinkles. Because the hot interior of 
the earth shrinks in bulk as it parts with its heat, the outer 
layers of rock, fitting themselves upon a shrinking interior, 
are wrinkled in much the same manner as in the case of the 
apple. In some instances, as in the Uinta Mountains, the 
range is a single fold ; in others, like the Jura and the Appa- 
lachian mountains, there are several parallel folds; in other 
examples, like the Alps, there are many folds extending in 
almost cveiy direction ; and in still others, like the Adiron- 
dacks, they are crumpled into a complex, knotted cluster. 

A single fold, or wrinkle, constitutes the mountain-range, 



8 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

and all the ranges together form the mountain-system. The 
highest part of a range is called its crest, and any part of 
the crest noticeably higher than the rest is a peak. We 
must remember, then, that a peak is not a cone-shaped 
mountain rising from a plain, nor a range, a number of peaks 
in line. We must also bear in mind that the range rarely 
extends the whole length of the system; on the contrary, a 
range may extend a hundred miles or more, and then disap- 
pear, another rising to the right or to the left, or perhaps in 
line, takes its place. 

But we must not consider the range an unbroken fold ; on 
the contrary, all that remains of any range, chain, or system 
is but a veiy small part of its original mass, for the erosive 
forces of nature — the various forms of water — are constantly 
at work levelling the summits. If the foldings of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains could have been preserved unworn, their 
crests would now be higher than the highest summits of the 
Himalayas, and South Mountain, a low, insignificant ridge, 
which, under various names, extends from Virginia to Can- 
ada, would be higher than the loftiest peaks of the Rocky 
Mountains. But ever since the crests of these ranges were 
lifted out of the sea, the waters have been sculpturing their 
slopes, carving deep ravines in their sides, and scattering the 
products of disintegration over the valleys below, or else 
carrying them in the flood of turbulent streams to the sea. 

Sometimes a stratum, bent and broken, will be worn so 
that its edges will extend longitudinally along the range. In 
many instances, half a dozen or more strata will thus pro- 
iioide, forming a series of parallel ridges. When these up- 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. g 

turned edges are cleared of the material that collects about 
them, they constitute the ridges of a range. Some of the 
so-called ranges of Pennsylvania are only ridges, and, in a 
manner, the same is true of certain of the ranges of the Adi- 
rondack, the Catskill, and the Taghanic mountains. 

Although so much of the mountain-mass has been worn 
away by the action of water, it is hardly safe to say that the 
ranges of the Appalachian System were ever very much higher 
than they are at the present time. Because the earth parts 
with its heat very slowly, it is evident that the folding of the 
strata into mountain-ranges must have taken place very 
slowly, also. Moreover, any sudden movement of the strata 
of rock would break, rather than bend them ; while, if the 
strain were very gentle, even the most brittle rocks would be 
bent after long and continued pressure. A sudden blow will 
break a piece of ice, but by gentle and continuous effort a 
slab of ice may be doubled up as completely as though it 
were soft putty. Sometimes, however, the strain becomes a 
little too great, and one or more strata will be ruptured and 
broken. Whenever this occurs, there is a quick, sharp trem- 
bling, that is usually called an earthquake. Perhaps, — and 
it is almost always the case, — the strata on one side of the 
break will settle down several feet lower than on the other 
side. Instances of this kind are very frequent in the Appa- 
lachian Mountains. They may have occurred many ages 
ago, but wherever such a break is observed, one may be sure 
there was an earthquake at that time. 

In the water-gaps of Susquehanna, Delaware, Green, and 
Columbia rivers one may also find evidence of the slow up- 



lo GEOGRAPHY OF iVElV YORK STATE. 

lift of mountains. All these rivers traverse ranges of moun- 
tains, having cut channels directly through their folds. Now 
one could not suppose for a moment that any one of these 
rivers flowed against the range and gradually sapped and 
tunnelled its way through it. On the contrar}', the range 
would have turned the river to the right or the left. But, in 
some cases, the river is older than the range, and it flowed in 
the same channel it now holds long before the range existed; 
and when the uplift of the latter began, it progressed so 
slowly that the river cut its channel downward just as rapidly 
as the range was thrust upward, — in just the same manner, 
in fact, as a log is moved against the saw. In other in- 
stances, the head-waters of the river cut its channel back- 
wards, little by little, until it had severed the range, or ridge, 
quite in twain. It is possible that Susquehanna River crossed 
the Appalachian Mountains in this way, 

3. WATERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE, 

Of the various substances, or elements, which go to make 
up the atmosphere, all except the vapor of water, remain 
about the same, so far as the proportion in which they occur 
is concerned. That is, in 1000 parts of atmosphere there 
are always about 790 of nitrogen, 200 of oxygen, and 3 or 4 
of carbon dioxide (or carbonic acid gas). The amount of 
water-vapor is constantly changing, — sometimes more, some- 
times less. When it is very warm, there may be as many as 
25 grains of vapor mixed with every cubic foot of the atmos- 
phere, but if it is freezing weather, there will be less than 2 
grains. 



CEOGRAPHY OF xVEW YORK STATE. 



In the following table we may see at a glance just how 
much vapor may be present in every cubic foot : 



Temp. 


Wt. of vapor 
in grains. 


Temp. 


Wt. of vapor 
in grains. 


Temp. 


Wt. of vapor 
in grains. 


o° 


.6 


60° 


5.3 


96° 


17-7 


IO° 




9 


65° 


6 


8 


97° 


18. 1 


20° 


I 


3 


70° 


8 





98° 


18.6 


32° 


2 


2 


75° 


9 


4 


99° 


19-3 


40° 


2 


9 


80° 


II 





100° 


19.8 


45° 


3 


3 


85° 


12 


8 


102° 


21.0 


50° 


4 


I 


90° 


14 


9 


103° 


21.6 


55° 


4 


9 


95° 


17 


3 


105° 


22.8 



Sometimes we say that all the vapor is held by the air. 
This, however, is not quite correct. The vapor would exist 
above the surface of the land and the water .whether there 
were any air or not. If the weather were warm, there would 
be a great deal of water-vapor present ; and, if it were cool, 
there would be much less, for the vapor has nothing to do 
with the other constituents of the atmosphere; the amount 
in the air depends on temperature alone. 

Now, let us suppose, during a very warm day when eveiy- 
thing seems moist and sticky, that a cold, chilling wind sets 
in from the north. Before the cold wind began to blow 
there might have been, if the temperature were 95°, nearly 
17.3 grains of vapor in every cubic foot of air — there might 
have been less, but there could not have been more. The 
wind quickly lowers the temperature to 70°. Let us see 
what must take place. By looking at the table we find that. 



12 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

when the temperature is 70°, there cannot be more than 8 
grains of vapor in a cubic foot of air. Therefore, all in ex- 
cess of this will be changed to water, and appear in the form 
of cloud, mist, and rain. 

This is just what occurs in every rain storm. All through 
the day the sun's rays, beating hot upon the surface of the 
ocean, change some of the water to invisible vapor, and great 
volumes of this warm vapor flow inland along with the wind. 
When the vapor reaches land, it is chilled by the high 
mountain-tops, or by cold land-winds, and the greater part 
again changes back to the form of water, falling on the land 
in the form of rain, or snow. 

When all the moisture that can e.xist in the air at a par- 
ticular temperature is present, the air is said to be satu- 
rated, or at the dew-point. Cool the moisture-laden at- 
mosphere ever so little, and the vapor will be condensed, or 
changed to water ; warm the atmosphere above the dew-point, 
and the water immediately begins to evaporate. 

Usually, dew forms early in the evening, about the time of 
sunset. As soon as the sun disappears, the grass and the 
leaves begin to chill at once. They part with their heat much 
more quickly than does the air, and the moment the air next 
them cools below the point of saturation, the dew begins to 
form in minute silvery drops. If the temperature falls below 
32", then the droplets freeze, and become frost. 

Sometimes, however, dew will form one night, and not on 
another equally cold. Possibly there may be so little moist- 
ure in the air, that even the lowest temperature of the night 
is not quite to the point of saturation. Or possibly, there 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 13 

may be a brisk wind all through the night, and then no dew 
will form because none of the moisture is left long enough in 
contact with the earth to be chilled to the dew-point. 

A slight condensation of moisture taking place high in the 
air forms clouds. If the condensation continues until the 
moisture in the lower part of the cloud gathers into drops, 
then a shower of rain falls on the earth. In many in- 
stances, however, the condensation does not continue to the 
point where rain begins to fall, and only clouds appear in the 
air. They may be the light, fleecy cirrus, or cat-tail clouds, 
which are so high that they are icy — a sort of frost, five or 
ten miles in the air ; they may take the form of the great 
heaps we call cumulus, or summer clouds ; or they may 
settle about the horizon in the long, sombre bands that form 
the stratus cloud. 

They are all composed of condensed moisture, however, — 
a sort of dew forming on the minute specs of matter floating 
in mid-air. Increase the temperature of the air and the 
cloud disappears, because the moisture evaporates ; lower the 
temperature, and it increases in size until the moisture col- 
lects in drops and rain begins to fall. 

A storm, however, is something more than a mere shower 
of rain. The latter is of short duration, and affects a local- 
ity of small area. The former not only covers a large area, 
but it may sweep along a path a thousand miles broad and 
eight or ten thousand miles long. The storm consists mainly 
of an uprising column of air, called an area of low barom- 
eter, and toward this uprising column, the wind is blow- 
ing spirally from all directions. The area of low barometer, 



14 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



or uprising column, is called the storm-centre, and it trav- 
els usually from some point in the south-west to one in the 
north-east quadrant. 

In the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, there 
are two general tracks, one or the other of which most of the 
storms follow. These are the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence 
River, and the Atlantic Coast plain. In many instances, 
however, the storm-centre may be several hundred miles, or 
more, to one side or the other of these lines. A storm of 
the former class begins, usually, somewhere near the base of 
the Rocky Mountains. It gathers strength as it advances, 
and not infrequently continues its course until it has crossed 
the entire breadth of the Atlantic, 

A storm of the second class originates in the Caribbean 
Sea, or in the Gulf of Mexico, and advances in a path nearly 
parallel to the coast. Sometimes only the edge of the storm 
touches the land, but many times the storm-centre will sweep 
the entire Atlantic Plain from Florida to Nova Scotia. Not 
infrequently, two storms, one from the Gulf, the other from 
the Plains region, will meet at some point east of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains, and join their forces. The famous bliz- 
zard of March, 1887, was an instance of this kind. 

A storm-centre may travel from twenty to fifty miles per 
hour. As the winds blow toward the uprising column, they 
acquire a rotatory motion, which in ordinary storms is gentle, 
but in cyclones of the sea is very violent. Most of the rain 
falls in front of the storm-centre — only a few "clearing 
showers " occur after the centre has passed a given point. 
A moment's thought will show that at any place where the 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



15 



Storm-centre passes, a storm of the first class will be preceded 
by an easterly, and will clear with a westerly wind. One of 
the second class will be preceded by a wind having a general 
southerly direction, and will clear with one from the opposite 
quarter. 

During winter, a storm is sometimes followed by a "cold- 
wave." Let us see how this may occur. A storm-centre in 
winter traverses the middle of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and 
the southern part of Pennsylvania. Everywhere north of the 
track the wind blows fiercely from the north, and in the 
course of forty-eight hours an enormous mass of cold air is 
pushed down from the icy north. This constitutes the cold- 
wave, and its intensity and area will vary according to the 
size and speed of the storm. 

Knowing the laws of storms, it is not so very difficult to 
predict them ; and for this, among other purposes, the United 
States Weather Bureau has been established. The object of 
the Bureau is practically to protect navigation, commerce, 
and agriculture This it does by furnishing information con- 
cerning approaching storms, dangerous coast-winds, threat- 
ened floods, cold-waves, probable frosts, etc. Stationed in 
various parts of the United States are upwards of 400 observ- 
ers, who, twice a day, at the same actual time, — not clock 
time, — report to the Bureau the temperature, barometric 
pressure, relative humidity, and direction of the air, each 
at the locality of his station. These results are entered on a 
map, and from the information obtained thereby the predic- 
tions are made. 

General storms are not difficult of prediction, for, when 



1 6 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

one forms, its direction is known beforehand, and the rate at 
which it moves can be soon ascertained. It is only when 
such a storm abruptly changes its direction, or velocity, that 
the predictions fail. Local showers, thunder-storms, etc., 
are more difficult to foretell, because the conditions under ' 
which they are formed are liable to sudden change, and are 
often of local nature. On the whole, about eighty -five per 
cent, of the predictions are at present fulfilled. With an in- 
crease in the number of observers, a maximum of ninety to 
ninet}'-five per cent, may hereafter be verified. 

The flag-signals now ordinarily displayed require four 
flags. A blue flag denotes rain ; a w hite flag, clear weather. 
A triangular blue flag above the weather-flag signifies warmer; 
below the weather-flag, colder weather ; its absence, station- 
ary temperature. A white flag, with a black square, denotes 
the approach of a cold-wave, or a decrease of temperature 
amounting to fifteen degrees, or more, which shall bring 
the temperature below 45°. 

4. GLACIERS. 

Of the snov/ that falls on the steep slopes of high moun- 
tains, a part evaporates, some melts, and, collecting into 
gullies, flows off. Much, however, tumbles down the steep 
sides in the form of avalanches, or is blown by the fierce 
winds into the ravines that score the mountain-side. That it 
would entirely fill the ravine until the latter is buried out of 
sight, is a conclusion one might naturally reach, — but it does 
not. Why it does not we may easily find the reason. 

If we examine the mass of snow and ice in the ravine, we 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



17 



shall find that it is moving down the slope. Its motion is very 
slow, it is true. — hardly more than two or three feet a day, 
but its flow is none the less certain. In the upper part of 
the ravine the snow is as light and fleecy as when it fell 
from the clouds. A little farther down, its- character is 
changed, and instead of the beautiful star-shaped crystals, we 
find small, rounded grains of ice, the ne%>e of the glacier. 
Still farther down the neve is pressed into a dirty-white ice, 
and yet beyond, still the minute air-spaces are squeezed out, 
and the white ice becomes a deep blue in color. 

And now we shall notice that the surface of the glacier, or 
river of ice, is seamed with cracks, or crevasses. These 
are widest and most numerous in the middle of the glacier. 
They form because, at the surface, the ice in the central part 
of the glacier moves more rapidly than at the sides, or at the 
lower part. Streams of muddy water are flowing at the bot- 
tom of the crevasses, and, little by little, are melting the ice. 
Near the lower end of the glacier the crevasses have become 
very irregular, or have almost disappeared. In their place, 
the surface of the ice is a series of hummocks, and the streams 
of water have become torrents. By and by, after the glacier 
has pushed its way down beyond the snow-line, perhaps into 
the region of cultivated fields, the last vestige of ice melts, 
and the end of the glacier becomes the source of a river. 

All along the ravine fragments of rock have been tum- 
bling down upon the surface of the glacier. Some of them 
fall into crevasses and make their way to the bottom, but 
most of them are pushed against the sides of the ravine, 
where, in the course of time, they form long walls. These 



l8 GEOGRAPHY OF NE^V YORK STATE. 

walls are called moraines, and if at the side of the glacier, 
they are lateral moraines. In some instances, when two 
glaciers join and flow in the same valley, the two lateral mo- 
raines are brought together and form a medial moraine. 
The central moraine, however, does not long remain an un- 
broken wall. Most of the rocks fall into crevasses, a few 
are pushed to the side of the stream, and the few remaining 
ones are borne upon the surface of the ice. 

The latter often become objects of curiosity, as well as of 
interest. As the warm rays of the sun beat upon the ice, 
they quickly melt it away from all sides of the bowlder, so 
that by and by the latter, perched two or three feet high, rides 
on a column of ice that is constantly growing more and more 
slender. Many a traveller among the glaciers of the Alps has 
seen bowlders, three or four feet in diameter, supported each 
by a shaft of ice not more than a foot thick. Sooner or 
later, however, the bowlder falls from its perch, and is quickly 
carried to the bottom. At the lower end, where the glacier 
disappears by the melting of the ice, one will always find 
large piles of these bowlders. During the summer season, 
when the ice melts more rapidly, the end of the glacier re- 
treats up the valley, leaving thousands of these bowlders 
scattered along its bed. But with the coming of winter, the 
ice again advances, and, pushing the bowlders ahead of it, 
piles them up in a thick, high wall. This constitutes the 
terminal moraine. 

The bowlders found in the moraines of glaciers differ con- 
siderably from ordinary stream-gravel. The latter are smooth 
and evenly rounded ; the former are commonly more or less 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 19- 

angular. Frequently it happens that a bowlder will be quite 
as rough on all but one side as when it first fell upon the gla- 
cier. I'he one side that is worn, however, bears the mark- 
ings that tell the story of its origin. It is very smooth, often 
polished, and is scored with parallel scratches. These are 
so characteristic and sharply cut that, once noticed, they will 
not fail to impress their character on the observer. 

The finding of these glacier-marked stones in various 
localities of the northern parts of Europe and North America 
led to a search for other marks of glaciation, with the result 
of finding abundant evidences. Nearly every part of the 
British Isles and the Scandinavian Peninsula is covered with 
the peculiar drift, or till, that is formed by glaciers. Not 
only the bowlders, but the surface of the country rock as 
well, bears evidence that the whole area was once ploughed 
over by a flood of ice. If we examine a good map of Nor- 
way and the British Isles, we cannot but notice the frayed 
rock-bound coast. The indentations are nearly parallel, and 
all of them point to the south-west. They look just as though 
some giant hand had scoured them over until the entire coast 
was nothing but a fringe of ragged rock. Thus, by studying 
the character of surface-erosion in regions where glaciers are 
now at work, one may learn to point out areas of countiy 
which were scoured and rubbed down by glaciers of a former 
period. A study of the fjords of Alaska, Norway, and Chili, 
which are now being frayed and shredded by glaciers, will 
show us that they differ in no way from those of the Maine 
coast. 

In the same manner, the long, narrow lake-beds of Switzer- 



20 GEOGRAniY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

land, walled up with drift or scoured out with an almost pol- 
ished surface, are identical in general features with those of 
New York and New England. All through these states, ex- 
tending even into Pennsylvania, we may find the markings of 
the glaciers of a former period, and they constitute the most 
impressive of the various surface features. Not only the till 
and planed bowlders, but the long walls of rock that formed 
the moraines of these glaciers, are observed. One of these 
stretches across the north east corner of Pennsylvania, and 
another forms a ridge across New Jersey. Long Island itself 
is nothing but an old moraine pushed into its present place 
during the glacial epoch. 

But the glaciers that were so active in North America and 
Europe during the long, icy wint^er were not the narrow 
streams of ice such as one now sees in the Alps, on the 
flanks of Shasta and Tacoma, or in the fjords of the Alaskan 
coast. On the contrary, they consisted of an immense sheet 
of ice that, little by little, crept down from the polar regions 
until it reached into the central part of North America, and 
covered it to a depth of hundreds of feet. It was during this 
period that the northern ranges of the Appalachian Moun- 
tain-system were worn down, in places, almost level with the 
valleys, and the multitude of lake-basins were dug out. 

When again the climate began to grow milder and the 
glacial sheet of ice began to disappear under the growing 
warmth, the 'rivers were swollen many times their present 
volume, and the terraces that mark the upper levels of the 
riv^er-valleys were formed. At last the ice disappeared, and 
the Great Lakes, drained of their floods, had shrunk to half 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 21 

their former size, then the rivers dwindled to their present 
volume, and the face of the country assumed much the aspect 
it bears to-day. 

5. RIVERS. 

Of the water poured upon the land in refreshing showers, 
a part sinks into the earth to again gush forth from hidden 
recesses, in the form of springs ; some is licked up by the 
dry air, to be carried elsewhere ; but a large part flows back 
to the sea, forming brooks, torrents, lakes, and rivers. 

The water that is dropped from a cloud, or is let loose 
from a winter's drift of snow, forms little rills which trickle 
in furrows down the slope. The rills gather into rivulets, 
and the rivulets collect into brooks, which roll down the 
steep inclines through pebbled gullies, or tumble over cliffs 
in silver-streaked cascades. Still farther down, the brooks 
unite into mountain-torrents, and the latter in their tumultu- 
ous passage carve deep ravines into the hardest rock, tossing 
immense bowlders aside, or rolling them down the steep 
beds, as if they were straws blown by the wind. 

As they near the foot hills, the torrents emerge from echo- 
resounding canons, and join to form a still more formidable 
stream. Thenceforth the stream becomes a river, and its 
conduct is altogether different. As it reaches the plain, it 
flows with a much slower current, and drops all the coarser 
sediment its waters contained. No longer having the power 
to toss aside the larger obstacles, it flows around them. As 
its current is checked, little by little, on account of the de- 
creasing slope of its flood-plain, the water drops more and 



22 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

more of its sediment, and because the current cannot carry 
it, the river must build its bed and banks higher than the 
surrounding land, and spread its waters out into long, sinu- 
ous loops, such as one sees in the Lower Mississippi. 

By and by, however, there is a period of unusually high 
water ; the volume of the stream is swollen, and because it 
is swollen its velocity is increased. It no longer deposits 
sediment, but is able to pick up and carry it. So, at once 
the water goes to work, and as the banks are the only places 
from which it can take the sediment, withovit further ado, it 
begins to cut these away. In a little while, there is a com- 
motion of waters. The river has, perhaps, cut the narrow 
neck of a long loop, or may be it has found a new channel 
on lower ground. 

When the river reaches the sea, its waters are still laden 
with silt, and not until then does it drop the last of its bur- 
den. At the sea, not only is its current wholly checked, but 
twice a day its flood is pushed back a hundred miles, or more, 
by the tide. And here it is that the river shows its most 
wonderful work in continent-building. The Mississippi has 
built for itself banks between which it flows a distance of 
more than fifty miles into the Gulf of Mexico. With each 
ebbing and flowing of the tide a little more substance is 
added, and it is only a matter of years before it will have 
pushed them across the Gulf, leaving a salt lake between 
Mexico and Yucatan, and joining Florida to Cuba. 

But in many instances rivers lengthen their courses not 
only at their mouths, but at their sources as well. A stream 
like the Alleghany, or the Susquehanna, may have its sources 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



23 



on a slope, the soil of which is easily worn away by running 
water. With each succeeding rain, the rills cut their furrows 
deeper, and the latter, little by little, extend farther up the 
slope. In time, the gully will reach to the top of the divide, 
at some point where the latter forms a slight depression. But 
the stream does not stop here : it still continues its work of 
corrasion until it has traversed the ridge, and perhaps has 
tapped and diverted the head-waters of a stream flowing in 
an opposite direction. 

A remarkable feature of many of the rivers of the North 
Atlantic States, is the succession of terraces into which their 
valleys have been sculptured. It is now thought that in 
former geological times, these rivers were streams of far 
greater volume than at the present time, and that the flood- 
plain of each occupied the whole breadth of the valley at the 
.upper level of the terrace. When, in subsequent time, the 
river shrank in volume, owing to a diminution in the supply 
of water, the river was no longer able to spread over its old 
plain in time of flood, but could cover only a narrow strip in 
the middle of it. Moreover, it could spend its corrasive force 
on this strip only, and at this place the stream kept right on 
cutting into it deeper and deeper. By and by, it had carved 
a new channel in the old flood-plain, and all that was left of 
the latter were the terraces on each side of the valley. 

In many instances, a stream of water descends abruptly 
from a higher to a lower level. Sometimes it passes to the 
lower level in a succession of dalles, sometimes in swift rap- 
ids, and sometimes it plunges over the vertical escarpment 
of a cliff in a magnificent cataract. 




^^ -yOu. XxMJ'^ QXjJr -tJUjL S^^tieO/Wt. "VLCUl. AA/jJ: JltUXAAnrU 









IN NATIONAL (.EOGKAl'inC MAf;AZINK. 



GEOGEAPIIY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



25 



In the rivers of New York one may readily observe in the 
two terraces, or ridges, tliat traverse the state a reason for the 
existence of rapids, but it is not quite so easy to discover the 
reason why there should be dalles in some places and cata- 
racts in others. The character of the rock at Niagara Falls 
v/ill aid us in studying the problem. The upper layer con- 
sists of the hard, calcareous rock, known as Niagara limestone. 
Below this are several strata, mainly of marl and other softer 
rock, and, at the bottom, a thick layer of Medina sandstone. 
On this upper stratum, because of its hardness, the water 
exerts but little corrasive action. On the lower strata, how- 
ever, the case is different. The water not only has increased 
its velocity many fold, but it pounds away on the sandstone 
with an impact almost as powerful as though a multitude of 
pile-drivers were at work. Moreover, every grain of sand 
that is loosened becomes an active cutting-tool, and as the 
current sweeps away the debris, a fresh surface is always 
presented upon which the water strikes with a never-ceasing 
activity. 

So, in time, a cataract like that of Niagara tends to increase 
rather than to diminish its height. In addition to this, the 
falls are slowly but surely receding. Since the falls were 
first formed (probably at the close of the Glacial epoch) they 
have receded about three and one-half miles. At present 
the recession of the Canadian, or Horseshoe Fall, amounts to 
about 2 4 feet per year, but in the centre of the channel it is 
nearly twice as much. At the point where the angle in the 
ledge is formed the recession since 1875 ^^'■^^ been more than 
two hundred feet, but at the American Fall, since 1842, it has 



2 6 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

been very slight. "^ It is a que^-tion of time only until the 
Canadian Fall shall have receded to a line between Dufferin 
and the Sister islands. When this shall have taken place 
the American Fall, which has been all the time decreasing in 
volume, will have nearly or quite disappeared. 

Had the conditions of a hard stratum at the top, and a 
softer one at the bottom, been reversed, there would now be 
no cataract, even had there been one at the beginning of the 
Champlain period. The softer rock would have worn away 
at the edge until, little by little, the steep escarpment had 
become an inclined plane, extending to some point below 
Whirlpool Rapids; and, instead of the sublime cataract, 
there would now be a succession of rapids like those which 
mark the passage of St. Lawrence River. 

6. LAKES. 

Lakes are bodies of water resting in depressions in the 
land. A lake is the most ephemeral feature of the land- 
scape ; the river that flows into it is constantly carrying silt 
to its basin, thereby filling it, while the stream that emerges 
from its foot tends constantly to cut the rim lower and 
lower, and finally to drain it. The depression in which a 

* From the end of this (Goat) island it is that these two great falls 
of water, as also the third, but now mentioned, throw themselves 
after a surprising manner, down into a dreadful gulph si.K hundred 
foot and more in depth. I have already said that the waters which 
discharge themselves at the cascade to the east fall with lesser force; 
one moderate, the other violent and strong, which at last make a 
kind of crotchet or square figure, falling from south to north and 
from east to west. — Hennepin, 1678. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



27 



lake rests is called its. basin, but not every depression in the 
earth's crust bears a lake upon its surface. In many such 
depressions, all the water that falls into the basin evaporates 
under the hot rays of the sun ] in others, the amount of water 
lodging in the basin is so great that not even the fiercest heat 
of the sun can dissipate it. and it fills, little by little. 

In many instances, especially in regions of abundant rain- 
fall, the water steadily increases in volume until it flows over 
the lowest part of the rim. In other regions, chiefly those of 
limited rain-fall, the basin fills until just as much water is 
lost by evaporation as is gained by rains and the inflow of 
streams. Such lakes are said to have no outlets, and in 
many instances their waters are salt. It must not be as- 
sumed, however, that all lakes without outlets are salt ; as a 
matter of fact, the majority of them are not. Salt lakes, it is 
true, have no outlets, but such lakes are salt only when the 
streams flowing into them percolate through soil containing 
much soluble mineral matter. If the lake has an cutlet, both 
the water and the mineral matter will flow out of it, but if 
there be no overflow, the water is removed by evaporation, 
while the mineral salts remain. Thus in time the waters cf 
such a lake become salt. 

Many lakes are widened parts of river channels. This is 
especially true of the lakes of New York, New England, 
and, in fact, of all the group in the northern part of North 
America. These lakes are remarkable for their shape, being 
in every instance long, narrow, and deep. In New York, 
especially, their trend is as regular and as nearly parallel as 
that of the mountain ranges. The basins of these lakes, too, 



28 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

are in nearly every instance gouged out of solid rock, and in 
some instances the edges of the basin have been built up 
with walls of bowlders, almost as regularly laid as though 
some giant hand had fashioned and set them in place. 

It is now thought that these lake-basins were formed by 
the action of the great ice-sheet which in former geological 
times covered the northern part of the continent. In all 
regions covered by this mighty glacial sheet lakes are abun- 
dant. In other regions they are rare, and where they occur 
they are shallow marshes rather than deep lakes. 

In other instances, lakes have been formed by the action 
of rivers which flow through an alluvial soil. A river bear- 
ing much sediment in its current will deposit a large part of 
it if the current be checked ever so little. The river then 
begins to form the long loops which are so noticeable in the 
lower Mississippi River. In the course of years, however, 
the neck of the loop grows narrower and narrower, and, 
finally, in a time of high water, the river cuts its channel 
clear across it, and there remains, partly filled with water, a 
long crescent-shaped lake to mark the old channel. Such 
lakes are common in the Mississippi Valley, but are scarcely 
known in the Eastern United States. 

Another manner of lake-formation has been described on 
pages 32 and 2,Z- Lakes of this character are more properly 
called lagoons. They are closely connected with the wave- 
formed islands that mark the South Atlantic and Gulf coast 
of the United States. In New York they are exemplified 
along the south coast of Long Island. 

The lakes of New York have contributed no little to the 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



29 



prosperity of the state. All the larger ones are natural high- 
ways of commerce, free to the many vessels that ply upon 
them. They are, moreover, the only natural safe-guard 
standing between the people on the one hand, and rapacious 
railway corporations on the other. Aside from their value as 
open highways of commerce, lakes exert a wonderfully be- 
neficent influence on the climate of the state. They modify, 
in no small degree, the severity of climate, and their shores 
are the resort of thousands who seek rest from the oppressive 
heat of summer and the restraints of crowded cities. Still 
more, they are immense storage reservoirs which, retaining 
the surplus waters at times of excessive rain, measure them out 
freely in times of dry weather, preventing, on the one hand, 
disastrous floods, and on the other, seasons of blighting 
drought. 

7. ISLANDS. 

A CASUAL inspection of any good map will show that, so 
far as their distribution is concerned, there are two well-de- 
fined classes of islands— those which are remote from con- 
tinents, and those that are near to them. 

The former are mainly "coral " islands. They are situated, 
for the greater part, in the broad expanse of the Pacific 
Ocean, and they are ranged in groups that have a general 
north-west and south-east trend. Most of the islands have 
the shape of irregular rings. Such islands are called atolls, 
and each atoll encloses a lake, called a lagoon. Nearly all 
coral islands are low and narrow, — rarely more than twelve 
or fifteen feet high, and seldom more than half a mile in 



30 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



width. Some of them, however, are mountainous, but even 
these are encircled by a fringe of coral. These atolls, it is 
thought, mark the site of sunken mountain-peaks, each one 
of which is surmounted by a ring of limestone, deposited by 
the coral polyp, a form of marine animal that grows in shape 
and manner much like a tree, or thicket of brush. 

Some geographers are of the opinion that atolls were at 
first reefs encircling volcanic islands, and that, while the 
island was slowly sinking, the coral polyp built its reef higher 
and higher. By and by, the island-mountain disappeared, 
and in its place there remained only the atoll, enclosing a 
lagoon of shallow water. Other students are of the opinion 
that because the region is one in which minute animal life is 
so profuse, the skeletons of their organisms in time have 
built the submarine plateau to such a height that the coral 
polyp could implant itself upon the higher summits, and then 
build to the surface. But to the geographer, the main feat- 
ures about these islands are that they shov; every evidence of 
having been formed on the higher surface of a vast plateau 
in the Pacific Ocean ; that the plateau is traversed with 
nearly parallel ranges of mountains extending north-west and 
southeast; and that each atoll marks the site of a volcanic 
peak, the summit of the latter in some instances rising in 
the centre of the atoll. Besides the atolls of the Pacific, 
there are many island reefs off the shores of Southern Asia, 
a long barrier-reef off the east coast of Australia, and a 
number of island reefs in the Caribbean Sea and oft" the 
south coast of Florida. 

The islands of greatest importance are those which lie 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



31 



near the coasts of the continents, and are therefore called 
continental islands. In their structure and the forms of life 
found upon them, they do not differ materially from the con- 
tinent near which they are situated, and as a part of which 
they are properly included. Usually such islands are long 
and comparatively narrow, and they are ranged in one or 
more lines parallel to the coast, or to one of the continental 
border mountain chains. In all such instances, the chain of 
islands consists of the higher summits of a partly sea-covered 
range of mountains. 

Another example of island formation may be observed 
along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and also along the 
southern shores of Long Island. No one who has examined 
a good map of these localities can have failed to notice the 
long and narrow spits that border these shores. They are 
very low, — seldom more than ten feet above the sea-level. 
They are rarely more than half a mile in breadth, while, not 
infrequently, one of them may be fifty miles, or more, in 
length. These islands are products of the waves and the 
rivers. The latter are constantly bringing down silt from the 
piedmont lands, and when the water reaches the sea, it drops 
its silt directly it comes in contact with salt water. But the 
action of the waves, instead of permitting the sediment to be 
carried seaward, pushes it shoreward. So, between the cur- 
rent of the river carrying it in one direction and the waves 
which force it in another, the sediment is piled up in long, 
narrow mud-spits. 

The moment the island emerges above the surface of the 
water, the waves and the surf begin to pile sand upon it, and 



32 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



build it still higher. Then the wind begins its part of the 
task. Seizing the loose grains of sand which the waves have 
thrown out of the water, it piles them up in dunes and ridges, 
making each island a miniature continent. It also brings 
the light seeds shed from maturing grasses, sedges, and 
shrubs. These soon grow, and, acting as a protecting cover, 
fasten the loose soil so firmly that even the winds themselves 
cannot remove it. The spits of Long Island, however, have 
been formed by wave-action alone. The southern shore, 
naturally much indented, has been hemmed in by the spit 
now named Fire Island. One of the lagoons thus enclosed. 
Great South Bay, is forty miles long and, in places, seven 
miles in width. 

8. THE ORIGIN OF CERTAIN MINERALS. 

Salt. — But little is known concerning the origin of rock- 
salt. In some instances, it is thought to have been deposited 
along old shores and sea-margins, and at the bottoms of 
former lake-beds, but many of the deposits are in positions 
which would be difficult to account for by any theory of the 
evaporation of sea-water. 

The process now going on in that arm of the Caspian 
Lake, known as the Karaboghas, furnishes a clew as to the 
manner in which salt deposits may, at times, be formed. 
Among the many indentations of this lake, is the large bay 
mentioned. It is connected with the lake by a n;irrow strait 
about 450 feet wide. The strait is not more than six or eight 
feet deep, and the Karaboghas itself is scarcely more than 
ten or fifteen feet in depth. A current of three or four miles 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



zz 



an hour is always running into the inlet from the lake, but 
no current ever sets in an opposite direction. During hot, 
dry weather, the current is much more rapid, and it is also 
accelerated by westerly winds. After a series of careful 
measurements, M. de Baer estimated that 600,000,000 cubic 
feet of water entered the "black gulf" daily, of which not a 
drop flowed back into the lake. 

Now,- this vast amount of water represents the daily evap- 
oration from the Karaboghas, and inasmuch as it contains 
about two per cent, of salt, 350,000 tons of the latter are 
daily deposited in this lagoon. No animal can live in its 
briny waters, and the shores are encased in a girdle of salt. 
In the course of time, it is evident that the entire lagoon will 
be filled with salt, and that the winds will cover it over with 
dust and detritus. Perhaps, in some future geological age, 
it may be discovered and recorded as a " Salina " epoch, 
such as that of Central New York. 

In the Great Basin, similar instances have occurred. Hum- 
boldt and Carson sinks, W'innemucca, Pyramid, and a num- 
ber of other lakes have passed through the same history. All 
these lakes have become dry at no greatly remote period in 
the past. At the bottom of each is a thick layer of salt, cov- 
ered with a layer of sediment swept into their basins by the 
winds. And when, in after years, the climate again became 
more humid, the lake-basins again filled with water, the be- 
ginning of another period of salinification. 

In at least one other locality, a vast bed of salt is accumu- 
lating. The region in question is not a lacustrine basin, but 
a low, flat portion of the delta of the Indus River, known as 



34 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



the Runn of Kutch. This region, some 8000 square miles 
in area, is covered to a shallow depth by sea-water a part of 
the year, but is dry during the remainder, and already salt is 
depositing there in abundance. 

Iron-ore. — In the manner of its occurrence, iron-ore bears 
some resemblance to coal. Like the latter, it is generally 
found in seams or layers, and the layers usually rest in basins. 
All soils contain more or less of the salts of iron, but the 
latter is rarely, if ever, found in a metallic state. The red 
and the reddish-brown colors observed in rocks and soils are 
nearly always due to the presence of iron, but it is rarely that 
iron-ore is found in rocks containing a large amount of color- 
ing matter due to the presence of iron ; on the contrary, it is 
among white sandstones and rocks of light color that beds 
of iron-ore are most frequent. In nearly every instance, too, 
the bed of ore rests upon one of clay, slate, or other rock, 
through which water cannot pass. 

In other words, geologists are of the opinion that the salts 
of iron have been leached, or dissolved, out of the rocks and 
soils through which it was sparsely but uniformly diffused, 
and deposited in basins. 

The peroxide of iron, the mineral to which the red coloring- 
matter is due, will not itself dissolve in water, but when it 
comes in contact with decaying vegetable matter it undergoes 
chemical decomposition, and a salt of iron is formed which 
is soluble in water. But the latter, deposited in some basin 
of impervious rock, by exposure to the atmosphere, and by 
the action of other agents, is again changed to an oxide of 
iron, which constitutes the ore commonly known as hoiiatite. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



35 



Another ore, llmDnite., occurring in New York, differs from the 
former, mainly in containing a certain amount of water of 
ciystallization. Still another oxo., pyrites, or fool's gold, oc- 
curs in the state. It is a combination of sulphur and iron. 

The metal is obtained from the ore by smelting the latter 
with mineral coal, or with charcoal. The carbon of the coal 
unites with the oxygen of the ore to form carbon dioxide, 
setting free the iron as a metal. When the molten metal is 
drawn from the furnace, it is run into a long furrow of sand, 
with a great number of short furrows leading from the side. 
The central furrow is called the " sow," and the side furrows, 
"pigs," hence the term pig-iron. The latter is subsequently 
refined by again smelting. 

Building Stones. — Granite is not a mineral, but a 
mixture of various minerals. That which forms the usual 
type is a mixture of mica, felspar, and quartz. If it has an 
appearance of stratification, or lamination, it is called gneiss ; 
if the mica is replaced by hornblende, it forms syenite. Most 
of the granitic rocks of New York, especially in the south- 
eastern part, are gneiss and syenitic gneiss. In some places 
they gradually change into a gritty schist of mica that con- 
tains little or no felspar. Garnets are generally abundant in 
granitic rocks. 

Sandstone, as its name indicates, is composed of sand, the 
grains of the latter being cemented together by carbonate of 
lime, or by peroxide of iron. The former includes the white 
and the gray ; the latter, the red and the brown stones. 

Petroleum. — Natural Gas. — But little is known con- 
cerning the origin and formation of mineral oil, but it is 



36 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

thought to be connected with the accumulations of sea-weed 
and coralloid limestones that grew and were deposited during 
the Palaeozoic age. There is some evidence that the oil wasr 
formed by the decomposition of vegetable or of animal tissue 
— or possibly of both — at a high temperature in the presence 
of salt, and under great pressure. Professor S. F. Peckham 
is of the opinion that the oil of the Pennsylvania, New York, 
and West Virginia horizons is mainly of vegetable origin, 
while that of California is an animal formation. In the former 
group, the oil occurs in sandstone measures. There are 
three separate strata, separated by intervening beds of shale. 
The crude petroleum is obtained by driving artesian wells 
into the oil-bearing strata. Of late years, it has been neces- 
sary to pump the oil to the surface, but at the time of the 
discovery of the oil-fields most of the wells were spouters. 
After a well has been in operation for some time, the oil be- 
gins to flow less freely, owing probably to the fact that the 
porous sandstone through vv'hich the oil passes has become 
clogged. When this occurs, it is customaiy to explode a 
torpedo of dynamite at the bottom, in order to shatter the 
rock and thereby increase the flow. 

Many useful products are derived from crude petroleum. 
Chief among these is the illuminating oil, kerosene or coal- 
oil. In distilling this, naphtha and benzine are separated 
and condensed in special receivei^s. Among other useful 
products are vaseline or cosmoline, paraffine, and asphaltum. 
From other waste materials there are prepared aniline (the 
base of a number of dyes), antipyrine, phenacetine, and car- 
bolic acid — all useful medicines. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 37 

Natural gas is obtained in the same manner as mineral 
oil. The two are sometimes associated, but oftener they 
seem to have no connection. The gas has greater heating, 
but less illuminating power than that made from coal by 
destructive distillation. In some of the wells, the pressure 
of the gas was formerly in excess of three hundred pounds 
per square inch, and the temperature, when it escaped at the 
surface, several degrees below the freezing-point of water — a 
degree of cold probably due to the expansion of the gas when 
the pressure is relieved. It is certain that not only the nat- 
ural gas, but also the supply of petroleum, is becoming grad- 
ually exhausted. Many of the oil-wells have ceased to yield, 
and in all the gas-wells the pressure is notably decreasing. 



PART II. -DESCRIPTIVE. 



I. POSITION AND EXTENT. 

Suggestions. — To demonstrate the relative size and position 
of the state is not an easy matter. It is best done by marking off 
the outlines of the state in their proper place on a school globe, and 
then cutting a piece of paper to correspond in size. By putting the 
paper outline on difTerent states and countries, the pupil ma)' acquire 
a fair idea of the relative size of the state. If no globe is obtainable, 
sketch the outlines on a map of North America for comparison. It 
will also be a good plan for the pupil to write the names of a few 
large cities of the United States and foreign countries on that part 
of the margin of the map which will show their latitudes as com- 
pared with that of New York. Thus Marseilles, France, should be 
written opposite Niagara Falls, and Madrid, Spain, opposite New 
York City, etc. It is a good plan to memorize the political and 
natural divisions that are adjacent to one's own state ; but it is not 
necessary to force every boundary to be exactly either north, south, 
east, or west. For instance, the Great Lakes and the Province of 
Ontario are north-west, rather than due north of New York. 

Not all of the map-questions propounded in this and the follow- 
ing chapters can be answered either from the map or from the text. 
Indeed, it is the question that cannot be thus answered that will be 
likely to prove the most instructive. The true object of the question 
is, not so much to obtain a correct answer as to provoke a discus- 
sion that will inculcate original thought. Never mind an occasional 
error. The boy who never falls will never become a good wrestler, 
runner, or ball-player ; and the pupil who is too timid to advance 
an opinion for fear of making an error will never have sufficient 



40 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

strength of character to succeed in any undertaking he may attempt 
in after-life. Do not permit anything to be recited verbatim. Com- 
mend any answer or statement that shows thought on the part of the 
pupil. Where differences of opinion arise, or text-books clash, the 
teacher — or what is still better, the pupil — should write a brief letter 
to some authority on the subject in question. A letter addressed to 
the State, or to the United States Geological Survej-, in reference to 
political boundaries or surface features, will always receive at- 
tention. 

Map Exercises.* — Prove the statement that the northern bound- 
ary of New York is midway between the equator and the north 
pole. Name the states and Canadian provinces that border New 
York. Is any other state in the Union bordered by a greater num- 
ber of states ? Name the rivers that form boundary lines. Name the 
lakes and other waters that form boundaries. What boundaries 
are theoretically parallels? Why are they not actually parallels? 
Are any boundaries intended to be meridians? Can you explain 
the reason for the irregular jog in the boundary between New York 
and Connecticut ? How does New York compare in size with 
Maine? — with the rest of the New England States? What other 
states on the Atlantic coast are larger? How does it compare in size 
with France? — with Switzerland? — with Iceland? Name the three 
largest islands belonging to New York. What strait or kill sepa- 
rates Long Island from Manhattan Island ? — Manhattan Island from 
the mainland? — from New Jersey? What kills separate Staten 
Island from New Jersey ? Give the location of Valcour Island, — 
Fisher's Island, — Coney Island, — Grand Island. Name another 
state noted for the number of islands included in its area. Can you 
explain how the long and narrow islands that border the south shore 
of Long Island are formed ? 

I. New York, the Empire State, is an irregular triangle in 
shape, bearing a fancied resemblance to a lion's head. Its 

* Any county map of the state will be serviceable in accompany- 
ing these and the following questions. Outline maps of the state 
may be procured from the publishers of this manual. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 41 

northern boundary, lat. 45°, is midway between the equator 
and the north pole. The extreme southern hmit is Ward's 
Point, on Staten Island, lat. 40° 30'. Montauk Point, lat. 
71° 51', on Long Island, is the eastern extremity. The 
meridian of 79" 46' is the western limit. ^ "^^ 

2. The land boundaries aggregate about 540 miles in 
length. The water boundaries are about 880 miles long, 
and, Delaware, Poultney, and a part of Niagara rivers ex- 
cepted, their whole extent is navigable. 

3. The greatest length of the state is about 412 miles ; the 
maximum breadth, 323 miles. The area, including 1550 
square miles of water surface along the shores of the Great 
Lakes, is 49,170 square miles. There are twenty-two states 
larger and nineteen smaller. It is about one-fifth the size 
of Texas, and nearly forty times as large as Rhode Island. 
In size it is about equal to England, and about half as large 
as Italy. 

4. Included within the boundaries of the state are several 
hundred islands.' The largest of these, Long Island,^ com- 
prises Kings, Queens, and Suffolk counties. Staten Island 
constitutes the county of Richmond : Grand Island, in Ni- 
agara River, is a part of Erie Count}/. A large number of 
the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River belong to 
the state. Most of the larger ones, however, belong to the 
Dominion of Canada, and a few are under the jurisdiction of 
the United States. 

5. Manhattan Island is separated from the mainland by a 

* The index figures refer to the notes on p. 91, and the following 
pages. 



42 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



narrow kilH which connects Hudson River and Long Island 
Sound. It forms tlie most densely populated part of New 
York City. Hart's, Ward's, Randall's, and Blackwell's islands, 
in East River, are a part of New York City. 

6. All the islands of the Sound, excepting a few off the 
Connecticut shore, belong to the state. Fisher's Island, the 
largest of the off-shore islands, also belongs to the state. 
Coney Island lies at the south-western angle of Long Island, 
being separated from the latter by a narrow kill. 

2. SURFACE FEATURES— MOUNTAINS. 

Suggestions. — In studying the topograph}' of the state, by far 
the best conceptions of its varied surface and ph3'sical features can 
be obtained from a relief-map or topographical model, provided it 
be a good one. Unfortunately, many relief-maps, because of their 
gross exaggeration of altitudes, and their failure to portra}' the char- 
acter of relief-features, are worse than useless because they are un- 
truthful. There are, however, several excellent topographical maps 
of the state, and one of these, with the aid of a moulding-board, will 
be much better than a poor model. In cho_osing a topographical 
map, select one as free from heavy lettering, political divisions, rail- 
way lines, etc., as possible. Recollect that in such a map topography, 
and not political features, is the salient point ; for the stud}' of polit- 
ical divisions a different map is required. In studying topography, 
bear in mind that there is an essential difference between a hill and 
a mountain. Study the range and not the peak as a unit. Bear in 
mind that the range is essentially a wrinkle, or fold, of the strata 
composing the earth's crust, and that a peak results from the un- 
equal wearing of the crest of the range. Some of the ranges are 
more properly called lidges ; that is, they are not folds, but long 
dikes that have been formed by the breaking and wearing away of 
the folds which constitute the ranges. The sectional views in Le 
Conte's and Dana's geologies will give excellent ideas concerning 
the character of mountain-ranges and vallevs. Do not harbor the 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



43 



idea that mountain-ranges are necessarily the divides between river- 
basins. Usually they are not. The passage of such rivers as the 
Susquehanna, the Delaware, the Columbia, and the Ganges through 
lofty ranges shows the absurdity of such an idea. It will be well, 
also, to bear in mind that the mountain-ranges of New York are of 
comparatively little importance in modifying either the industries or 
the climate of the state, while such features as the Mohawk and the 
Hudson valleys, and, more especially, the Mountain Ridge, — the 
former by opening natural commercial routes, and the latter, dis- 
tributing an abundance of water-power over the state, — have been 
factors of the greatest importance in the prosperity of the common- 
wealth. 

Exercises. — What parts of New York are mountainous ? What 
parts are rugged? Is there any great extent of level land? 
Where is the land most nearl}^ level? Name three mountain-groups 
in the state. In which direction do the ranges of the Adirondack 
Mountains extend ? What is the general direction of the lakes of 
this region ? How does the Adirondack region compare in produc- 
tiveness with the belt of countr}' along tlie 43d parallel ? What 
reasons are there for the difference ? What is the direction of the 
ranges and ridges composing the Highlands ? What are the Shavvan- 
gunk {shbn' gitni) Mountains called in Penns3'lvania ? What are the 
highlands between the east and west branches of the Delaware called ? 
{Ans. They are called the Delaware Mountains.) What knot of 
mountains between the .^dirondacks and the Highlands? To what 
system do all the ranges of New York belong ? What are they called 
in Pennsylvania? — in the New England States? Why are these 
ranges so much more worn and broken down in New York than in 
Pennsylvania ? What is the highest peak in the state ? — in the county 
in which you live ? 

What determines the direction in which rivers flow? With a fine- 
pointed lead pencil, on a map of New York, draw a light line that 
shall separate the sources of the rivers that flow into the Great Lakes 
and the St. Lawrence River, from all others. In a similar manner, 
draw a line that shall separate the streams flowing into the Atlantic, 
south of Long Island Sound. In the south-western part of the state, 



44 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



separate in a like waj' the tributaries to the Alleghany River. Into 
how many principal drainage-basins do these divides separate the 
state? Which is the largest? Which is the most important com- 
mercially? Which contains the greatest number of rivers? Which 
has the largest population? In which drainage-basin do j-ou live? 

1. Probably no other state in the Union has a more diver- 
sified surface than New York.^ The eastern part is traversed 
by several ranges of the Appalachian System, The central 
part contains a plateau, reaching, in Otsego County, an alti- 
tude of 2300 feet. The southern part is high and rugged, 
and, in the south-east, mountainous. That part of the state 
sloping toward Lakes Erie and Ontario is less rugged than 
other portions, but it is by no means level. 

2. There are three distinct groups of mountains in the state. 
The Adirondacks consist of several short ranges having a 
north-east and south-west trend. They culminate in Tahawas 
{hih' wahs) Peak (Mount Marcy), which has a height of 
5334 feet, together with several associated peaks exceeding 
5000 feet. 

3. The Catskill (or Kaaterskill) Mountains are thought to 
be a continuation of the ranges which, in Pennsylvania, are 
named the Alleghany, ** Laurel Hill, and Broad Top moun- 
tains. They are apparently connected with these folds by 
the ridges commonly called the Delaware Mountains. The 
Shawangunk and Helderberg ranges form a part of the Cats- 
kill group. The former is a continuation of the Kittatinny 
and Blue mountains of Pennsylvania. Slide Mountain, the 
highest of the group, has an altitude of 4205 feet. There 
are a dozen or more summits exceeding 3500 feet in height. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK' STATE. 



45 



4. The third group comprises tlie ranges known as the 
Highlands. It includes several low ranges, the principal 
one of which is cut in twain at West Point by the Hudson 
River. These ranges are continuations of the Taghanic (or 
Taconic) Mountains, and form a part of the Green Mountain 
folds.' The crest of the highest range varies from 1200 to 
1700 feet above mean tide. 

5. As in Pennsylvania, so also in New York, the entire 
series of ranges has been traversed by water-gaps. The most 
noteworthy in this state is that through which the Mohawk 
River now flows, but through which the waters of what is 
now Lake Ontario were formerly emptied into Hudson River. 

6. The Helderberg and Catskill mountains were once con- 
nected by a moderately high plateau. This, however, has 
been so sculptured by running streams that the elevated parts 
which remain have been improperly called a transverse range 
of mountains. 

7. The average height of the state is probably not far from 
1200 feet above the sea-level.^ The railways, which «are 
■built mainly along the river-valleys, have an average altitude 
of about 700 feet. Lake Erie is 573, and Lake Ontario 247 
feet above the sea-level. There are thirty-five peaks in the 
state more than 4000 feet in height. 

8. A noticeable feature of the topography is the existence 
of two well-defined terraces, or ridges, parallel to the shores 
of Lake Ontario. Roughly estimated, each is about 200 feet 
higher than the one belov/ it. The lower terrace is from 
three to eight miles from the shore of the lake ; the upper 
one, about thirty miles." 



46 GEOGRAPHY OF NEIV YORK STATE. 

9. Another noteworthy feature is the bowlder-strewn sur- 
face of the state. The bowlders, rounded and smoothed by 
attrition, were carried to their present resting-places and 
unloaded, when the ice sheet of the Glacial epoch covered 
these regions. There are but few parts of the state where 
such bowlders are not conspicuous. They vary in weight 
from a few pounds to a hundred tons or more. In some in- 
stances they are loosely scattered ; in others, they are piled 
in long, irregular walls. 

10. There are several well-defined drainage-basins in the 
state, and though all the surplus drainage reaches the At- 
lantic, the waters are discharged into the ocean at places 
widely remote. 

11. The northern and north-western half of the state lies 
on the slope of the St. Lawrence Basin. It is drained 
by a number of short streams, of which the Genesee, 
Oswego, and Black rivers are the most important. With 
one exception, this basin receives the overflow of all the 
larger lakes of New York. 

12. The south-eastern part of the state includes the basins 
of the Hudson, Delaware, and Susquehanna basins, and the 
surplus waters ai'e discharged respectively into New York, 
Delaware, and Chesapeake bays. The latter are tidal estu- 
aries, situated at no great distance apart. 

13. The south-western part of the state lies in the basin of 
the Mississippi and is drained by the head-waters of Alleghany 
River. This slope embraces scarcely 500 square miles of the 
state, its territory being confined to Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, 
and Allegany counties. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 47 



3. SURFACE FEATURES— RIVERS. 

Suggestions. — It is well to bear in mind that the conduct of 
rivers flowing in deep channels and over rock bottoms is different 
from that of streams flowing in a bed, and confined by banks of 
alluvial soil. A river of the former class flows always in much the 
same channel, changing it only by gradually deepening it. One of 
the latter is constantl}"^ at work silting up its channel in one place, 
and cutting a new one in soil that it had already deposited at some 
previous time. The rivers of New York are mainly of the former 
type, and hence their channels are subject to but little change. It is 
well to call attention to the fact that the lakes of the state are, in 
most instances, widened parts of their respective river-channels. It 
will not be difficult to show how a river in descending to a lower 
level, if the upper stratum of rock be hard and the lower one soft, 
will, in time, create a cascade. If, however, the case be reversed, 
dalles or rapids will be formed. It is well to enlarge on the idea 
that navigable rivers are free highways of travel, and that they often 
contribute more than an}' one other feature to the prosperity of the 
people who live along their banks. A railway costs from $30,000 to 
$50,000 per mile ; a river costs practically nothing. A river steamer 
costs but little more than a train of cars, and yet it has a much 
greater carrying capacity than-the average freight train. 

Exercises. — Which is the longest river wholly in New York? 
To what point is it navigable? What is the lower part of the river 
called? Why was it called North River? {See Appendix, note 13.) 
Name any other navigable rivers in the state. What prevents the 
navigation of the rivers flowing into Lake Ontario? How do vessels 
go from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario ? Tell what you can of the feat- 
ures of Genesee River. What is East River ? How would you go 
bj' water from Buffalo to Montreal ? How would _you return by 
water? Make a list of the rivers belonging to each drainage-basin ; 
if navigable, give the navigable extent ; locate the dalles, or falls, if 
any ; and make a list of the ports and manufacturing towns on each. 
Study the list carefully, but do not attempt to memorize it. Why 



48 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

has the St. Lawrence River so large a volume of water ? Of what 
lakes is it the outlet ? 

1. The rivers of New York are short, but they are usually 
streams of considerable volume, and each of the larger ones 
expands into a lake in some part of its course. On account 
of the lake terraces, most of those belonging to the St. Law- 
rence basin are characterized by cascades and rapids. 

2. The St. Lawrence,^'- which forms a part of the northern 
boundary, is the outlet of the Great Lakes. It is a wide 
stream, and its course is studded with islands and interrupted 
by rapids. Descending vessels sometimes shoot the rapids ; 
ascending vessels avoid them by passing through Rideau 
Canal. 

3. Niagara River, which is practically a part of the St. 
Lawrence, receives the overflow of Lake Erie. In a course 
of about forty miles, it falls 226 feet. At Niagara, it plunges, 
in a divided stream, over a precipice 166 feet high. 

4. Hudson River,^^ springing from a number of lakes in 
the Adirondacks, has a total length of about 300 miles. It 
is navigable to Troy, a distance of 151 miles. Below Albany, 
it is practically an arm of the sea, its level being only a few 
inches higher than New York Bay at high tide. At Peekskill, 
it expands into Tappan Sea, and at New York it widens out 
into Upper Bay. 

5. South of Harlem River, — the kill '- which separates 
Manhattan Island from the main-land, — the Hudson is com- 
monly known as North River. ^^ Both sides of the river are 
lined with wharves, and it probably is traversed by a greater 
number of large vessels than any other river in the world. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 49 

6. East River " is the name commonly given to the strait, 
or kill, connecting New York Upper Bay with Long Island 
Sound. It is the thoroughfare for vessels plying between 
New York City and New-England ports. 

7. Mohawk River, about 135 miles in length, is the only 
river of importance in the state whose valley has an easterly 
and westerly trend. It flows through a region renowned for 
its fertility. The valley is generally broad, but in places it is 
contracted to a narrow gorge. At Cohoes and Little Falls, 
there are rapids and cascades, in all 70 feet high, which 
afford an abundance of water-power. 

8. The valley of the Mohawk is one of the most important 
commercial thoroughfares in the world. For many years it 
was the only outlet of trade between New York City and the 
West, and it is to the topography of this valley, more than 
any other one feature, that the city owes its commercial 
supremacy. 

9. Genesee River, about 200 miles long, is the most im- 
portant stream of Western New York. At Portageville, 
twenty miles of its course lies in a gorge, in places 350 feet 
deep. Here its rapids and cascades aggregate 500 feet. At 
Rochester, in three cascades, it again falls more than 200 
feet in cascades and rapids. 

10. Oswego River is formed by the junction of Seneca and 
Oneida rivers. It receives the surplus waters of the lakes of 
the central part of the state, about fifteen in number ; it, 
therefore, discharges a large volume of water. 

Ti. Black and Raquette rivers drain most of the western 
slope of the Adirondack highlands. The former is navigable 



so 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



as far as Carthage, and, like other rivers flowing into Lake 
Ontario, descends to the lower lake-terrace in cascades. 

12. Delaware, Susquehanna, and Alleghany rivers, the 
most important streams of Pennsylvania, have their sources 
in New York. 

4. SURFACE FEATURES— LAKES. 

Suggestions. — In studying the physical geography of hikes, it 
will be well to keep in mind that lakes may be either marshes, whose 
waters rest in natural, but shallow, depressions, or they may fill 
basins that have been shaped by the action of glaciers. The former 
have usually borders that are nearly circular ; the latter, in shape, 
are long, narrow, and deep. The lakes of New York belong to this 
class. Keep in mind also that, in many instances, the lake is only 
a widened part of the river. Be careful to study the manner in 
which the shore-lakes, or lagoons, —such, for instance, as occur along 
the southern shore of Long Island, — are formed. Find reasons why 
lakes, especially marsh (or playa) lakes, are the most transitory feat- 
ures of the landscape. Do not allow the absurd notion to obtain 
that lakes without outlets are necessarily salt. Do not memorize 
the area and depth of any lake except it be near the place in which 
you live. 

Exercises. — In what direction do the lakes of the Adirondack 
group extend ? Compare this direction with that of the mountain- 
ranges, — with that of the central group. What lake pours its surplus 
waters into Chesapeake Bay ? What ones are tributary to the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence ? What one is tributary to the Gulf of Mexico ? 
Name the lakes that are navigable. What is the largest lake wholly 
within the state? Which state has the greater number of lakes, New 
York or Pennsylvania? Can you give a reason why? Can you 
name any lake in New York that has no outlet? Is it a fresh or a 
salt lake? In what part of the state are the lakes most numerous? 
Can you name the highest lake in the state? {See par. 4, /. 51.) What 
river in New York drains the greatest number of lakes ? Why has the 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



51 



St. Lawrence so great a volume of water? In note 8, Appendix, is 
a list of all the larger lakes arranged alphabetically. Make a table 
showing the drainage-basin in which each lies, and name its outlet. 
Arrange the lakes of the central group according to their altitude. 

1. New York is remarkable for the number and the beauty 
of its lakes. Two of the Great Lakes ^^ form a part of its 
northern boundary, and another large one separates a portion 
of the state from Vermont. In all it is estimated that there 
are nearly one thousand lakes and ponds wholly within the 
state limits. These form two tolerably distinct groups. 

2. The Adirondack group ^" consists of a large number of 
lakes, generally small in size, lying within the valleys of the 
Adirondack folds. Because of their peculiar situation, they 
are" long and narrow in shape, and their lines of greatest 
length extend parallel to the trend of the mountain folds. 

3. Lake Champlain, the largest of the group, lies mainly in 
Vermont. At its upper end is Lake George, justly renowned 
for its beautiful landscapes and clear waters. During the 
summer season both lakes are part of a busy commercial 
highway between Montreal and New York City. 

4. Saranac (Upper and Lower), Raquette, and Schroon 
lakes are noted summer resorts. A few of the lakes of this 
region find an outlet in Hudson River, but most of them dis- 
charge their overflow into the St. Lawrence. Moss and 
Tear-of-Cloud lakes are each more than 4300 feet above 
the sea. 

5. The lakes of the central group '' are situated mainly on 
the upper lake terrace. Like those of the Adirondack region, 
they are long and narrow. A few small lakes at the western 



52 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



end of the group overflow into the Genesee, but all the larger 
ones discharge their surplus waters into Oswego River. 

6. Chautauqua Lake is the only body of water of con- 
siderable size whose final outlet is the Gulf of Mexico, and 
it probably has a greater altitude than any other navigable 
lake east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a noted educational 
summer resort. 

7. It is a noticeable feature that nearly all the lakes of 
New York (and the New England States as well) are widened 
parts of the river channels that respectively drain them. It 
is now generally believed that the basins of these lakes were 
carved into their present shape during the Glacial epoch 
mainly by the action of ice. 

8. All the large lakes of the central group are navigable, 
and in the summer season they are important commercial 
thoroughfares. Lake Seneca, the largest, is an open high- 
way throughout the year. 

9. Along the shores of Long Island are a few small lakes, 
or lagoons, that have been formed by the action of waves, 
which, throwing sand-bars across narrow estuaries, have 
finally enclosed them. All the lakes formed in this manner 
are transitory. Some have been entirely filled with sand, 
and others have been again drained by the same agents that 
formed them. 

5. NATURAL RESOURCES— CLIMATE AND 

SOIL. 

Suggestions. — In the study of climate there is a practical side, 
the discussion of which will well repay the student for anv time de- 
voted to it. Much may be learned from the study of the winds. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



^Z 



Observe closely the direction of the wind that precedes a storm, and 
also the direction at its clearing. Notice carefully the difTerent kinds 
of clouds — cirrus or cat-tail, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus. Of 
these, the first named are the most important. Their appearance 
usually foretells an approaching storm, even ten or twelve hours be- 
fore a general clouding of the sky occurs. A fair barometer may be 
constructed according to the manner prescribed in almost every text- 
book of physics, and the relation of the barometer to the atmosphere 
will prove an instructive stud}'. It is an excellent plan to carry on 
a series of meteorological observations in connection with the school, 
and to display the same signals that arc used by the United States 
Weather Bureau. 

The study of the various kinds of soil occurring in the neighbor- 
hood where the pupil lives will be found not only interesting, but 
practical as well. The various soils, known as clay, loam, gravel, 
sand, etc., should be studied, not only as to their properties, but 
concerning their origin as well. It will be an excellent plan to have 
specimens of the different soils found in the neighborhood on exhi- 
bition. They are best kept in large glass jars, but for class exami- 
nation a few ounces of each specimen may be exhibited in very shal- 
low pasteboard boxes. It will be well to explain the reasons for 
artificially fertilizing the soil, for *' fallowing," and also the part that 
the common angle- or earth-worm takes in its preparation. 

Questions. — What conditions are included in the climate of a 
country? Can you tell what physical features and conditions mod-' 
ify climate? Which, as a whole, has the warmer climate. New York 
or Florida ? — New York or the Province of Quebec ? Give a reason 
for your opinion in both cases. In what part of the state is the cli- 
mate affected by altitude ? Are any parts affected by latitude? — by 
proximity to the sea? In what part of the state is the climate the 
most equable ? In what partis the average rain-fall greatest? In 
what part is it the least? What direction has the wind that precedes 
most of the storms? What direction has the wind with which the 
storms clear? What is the highest and what the lowest temperature 
observed in the town in which you live ? What is the heaviest rain- 
fall ? Which is the warmest and which the coldest month ? 



54 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



What is tlie prevailing soil in the district or the township in which 
you live? For what kind of crops is it best adapted? How is gravel 
formed ? What is the nature of claj-ey soil ? Is it well adapted for 
crops? Can )'Ou explain how loam is formed? Can you tell what 
occurs when soil is turned up for summer-fallowing? Can you 
tell what is meant by the "wearing-out" of soil? What is meant 
by alluvial soil? — sedentary soil? How does the fertility of soil 
affect the prosperity of a country? 

1. Owing to diversities in the height of the land, distance 
from the sea, and extent of latitude, the climate of the state 
is varied. In the highlands of the Adirondack and Catskill 
regions, the summers are cool and pleasant and the winters 
intensely cold. 

2. Because of the proximity of the ocean, the southern and 
south-eastern parts of the state have a more equable climate 
than any other portion. Here the temperature rarely sinks 
to o°, and very rarely exceeds 95°. In other parts of the 
slate the winter's cold is so intense as to frequently sink to 
— 25°. As a whole, the climate is warmer than that of Maine, 
and cooler than that of Pennsylvania.'^ 

3. The rain-fall averages about forty-four inches annually in 
the south-eastern part, arid thirty-four in the western part of 
the state. It is everywhere amply sufficient for all the needs 
of life i'-* 

4. The winds are variable. Ordinarily, storms are pre- 
ceded by east or north-east winds, and are followed by winds 
from the opposite direction. Storms may cross the state 
from some point in the west, or they may advance along the 
coast from the south-west. The latter are usually the edges 
of cvclonic storms from the Gulf of Mexico. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 55 

5. Tornadoes, or whirling storms, are of rare occurrence, 
and never so severe as in the Mississippi Valley. During 
the summer season, however, violent thunder-storms are by 
no means uncommon. Near the ocean and along the lake- 
coasts the air is moist, but in the interior it is remarkably 
dry. There are no extensive marshes and alluvial plains, 
and because of this, malarial diseases are rare. 

6. Almost every variety of soil may be found within the 
boundaries of the state, and the cash value of the annual 
products of the land bears evidence of its wonderful food- 
producing qualities.-" 

7. The flood-plains and terraces of the river-valleys are 
overlaid with a deep, loamy soil that is rich in the organic 
matter and mineral salts which constitutes the natural food 
of plants. 

8. The hilly and piedmont lands are generally rocky, but 
their soil, although scant, is rich enough to produce an abun- 
dance of grass. In " breaking" new land for cultivation, the 
first crop is not infrequently one of glacial bowlders or 
broken shale. 

9. On Long Island the under soil is mainly of sand, but 
this in the course of time has been covered by a surface of 
fairly rich loam^ and it is by no means sterile. 

6. NATURAL RESOURCES-PRODUCTIONS. 

Sug-gestions. — There is no part of the study of geography more 
practical than that which pertains to the natural resources of one's 
own state, county, or district. Physical features determine the dis- 
tribution ; natural resources, the density and the wealth of popu- 
lation. 



^6 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

It will be an excellent plan to learn about the habits of such ani- 
mals as may be found in the neighborhood where one lives. It is 
not necessary to attempt any elaborate classification — to the average 
man there arc but two classes — those beneficial, and those injurious 
to humanit}'. More especiall}' is this true of birds and insects, and 
the student who applies himself to this aspect of the stud)^ of life- 
forms will find an abundance of work. 

In the consideration of vegetation there ma}' be much practical 
work done. The pupils of each school should provide it with an 
herbarium, including a specimen of every plant found in the district. 
If it be possible, grasses, herbs, and smaller shrubs should be gath- 
ered while flowering, taking care to have each specimen carefully 
mounted, labelled, and pressed. Where several varieties of a species 
occur, if not too large, they may be mounted on the same sheet of 
paper. Write the common name, or names, of the plant on each 
slip, and, if possible, the botanical name. It is well to have dupli- 
cate specimens, for exchange. Secure specimens of every kind of 
wood growing in the state. One specimen of each should show a 
small piece of the tree, or one of its branches, in its natural state ; 
another should show a planed and polished longitudinal section. It 
is of the greatest importance that the pupil should become acquainted 
with plants that are enemies to the farmer, and also with those that 
have medicinal properties. Most of the plants commonly called 
"weeds" will be found to possess some economical or industrial 
properties. The manner in which plants are distributed b}' winds, 
by waves, and by the agency of animals, will, in conjunction with 
the peculiar forms of certain seeds, be fruitful subjects for dis- 
cussion. 

All that has been said in the foregoing paragraphs concerning the 
collection of plants will apply equall}' to the mineral resources of 
the district. The various specimens of soil and common kinds of 
rock alone will form a surprisingly large cabinet. The pupils should 
by all means collect specimens of the industrial ores and minerals. 
All specimens should be carefully arranged, each resting on a card 
bearing the common and the mineralogical name, and also the loca- 
tion to which it is native. In the case of ores, specimens of the 
manufactured product should be exhibited with the ore. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NE IV YORK STATE. 



57 



Questions. — Can you name any animals that were once abundant 
in tlie state that have since disappeared? How are animals exter- 
minated by civilization? What is meant by carnivorous animals? — 
by rodent animals ? Name several of each. Name an}' wild anim.als 
found in the county or the district in which )-ou live. What is meant 
b}' reptiles? How does the rattlesnake defend himself against ene- 
mies? Why is this snake so named? In v%'hat wa}' does it intiict its 
poison? Answer the same questions with reference to the copper- 
head. Make a list of the animals you know to be beneficial to the 
farmer, — of those that are injurious. Can )ou describe the trans- 
formations (as exemplified in the butterfly) through which most in- 
sects pass ? Name the animals in the neighborhood in which you 
live that are hunted as game. Name the fish that arc used as food. 

Name, if any, the forest trees in the count}' in which you live that 
are converted into building timber, — those that furnish ornamental 
wood. Make a list of the plants cultivated in the neighborhood for 
food, — for other industrial purposes. Name or describe any that are 
used for medicines. Name, if you can, two garden vegetables and 
four flowers belonging to the night-shade family. Make a list of all 
the plants you know growing in the state that are injurious rather 
than beneficial to humanity, and give your reasons therefor. Can 
you tell how the Canada thistle, burr-clover, and dandelion are dis- 
seminated ? In what manner are the oak and the hickory sometimes 
distributed ? What and where is the Forest Preserve ? For what 
purpose \vas it set aside? Name the wild fruits of which you have 
any knowledge that grow in the state. 

What minerals are obtained in the county or the district in which 
you live ? Which of them are valuable for industrial purposes ? How 
is iron obtained from the ore of which it is a part ? How is lime ob- 
tained ? What is the difference between " slaked " and " unslaked " 
lime? Can you tell what minerals enter into granite ? Can you tell 
any of the physical properties of slate? What are "flag-stones"? 
Of what minerals is " brownstone " composed? How is plaster-of- 
Paris prepared from gypsum ? For what is it used ? What are the 
properties of hydraulic cement? How is salt obtained? Name the 
counties in which you know it to be found. In what manner is 
petroleum mined? How is it mainly trans-shipped ? How do min- 



5 8 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

eral springs become impregnated with the minerals to which their 
properties are due ? Give the location of any such springs in the 
count}' in which ^-ou live. 

1. The range of animal life, and the number of species in 
New York, have been greatly changed by the advent of man 
and the unceasing march of civilization.^' This is due not 
only to the slaughter of the animals themselves, but also to 
the destruction of the forests, which were their native abid- 
ing-places. 

2. The elk, caribou, and moose have been exterminated, 
but the deer is still found in the mountain fastnesses. The 
carnivorous animals are represented in the black bear, pan- 
ther, wolf, lynx, otter, mink, marten, skunk, red fox, and grey 
fox. The wolf and the fur-bearing animals are welhnigh ex- 
tinct. Among the rodent animals are the hare, white rabbit, 
beaver, squirrel, and various species of small animals. 

3. In their customary season, all the birds common to the 
eastern part of North America may be found in this state. 
Of reptiles, there are more than a score of species. These 
embrace about a dozen species of snakes, including two vari- 
eties of rattlesnakes, and the equally poisonous copper-head. 

4. There are many species of edible fish in the Great 
Lakes, and the mountain lakes and streams still abound in 
trout, bass, pickerel, and perch. The salmon, once common 
in the Hudson, has been exterminated. Recently, however, 
the U. S. Fish Commission - has attempted to restock the 
streams with salmon and German carp. Oysters and other 
shell-fish are found along the Sound. 

5. Aside from cultivated plants, the indigenous vegetation 



GEOGRAPHY OF XEJV YORK' STATE. 



59 



is varied and abundant. Former!}', almost the entire surface 
of the state was covered with forests, but these have been 
largely cleared away, except in the northern part.-'^ 

6. Among the kinds of timber having industrial uses are 
fifteen species of oak, five each of pine and maple, and sev- 
eral each of elm, spruce, ash, beech, and hickory. In addi- 
tion to these are a number of ornamental woods, such as 
chestnut, black walnut, butternut, cherry, and others. The 
magnolia, acacia, lirodendron, and arbor vitae are also found. 

7. About two thousand species of flowering plants have 
been enumerated and described, exclusive of cultivated gar- 
den-plants. More than fifty species of ferns are found within 
the limits of the state — probably a greater number than oc- 
curs in any other state, California excepted. 

8. In the main, the flora of New York does not differ 
materially from that of the rest of the North-eastern United 
States. In the Adirondack region, however, there occur a 
few species of Alpine plants which, it is thought, survived 
the Glacial epoch. These are found in a few summits of 
Vermont and New Hampshire also, but nowhere else in the 
United States. 

9. The mineral wealth of the state, although surpassed by 
that of several other states, is perhaps as varied as that of any 
other state in the Union. ^^ 

10. Iron ores are widely distributed, and, in the annual out- 
put, New York stands next to Michigan and Pennsylvania. 

11. Building-stone of almost everv' conceivable character 
is distributed from nearly three hundred quarries. Granite, 
white marble, red marble, black marble, verde-antique, sand- 



6o GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

stone, limestone, flagstone, basalt, and hj^draulic cement are 
among the chief kinds. 

12. Salt is obtained from mines of rock-salt at S3'racuse, 
and from several localities in the Genesee and Oatka valleys. '-■' 
The salt-wells at Syracuse are controlled by the state ; those 
of Western New York are operated by jDrivate firms and cor- 
porations. Natural gas is found in several localities, and for 
many years it has been used for lighting Fredonia and other 
villages. The Pennsylvania oil-horizon also extends into 
New York. 

13. Mineral springs abound in various parts of the state, 
aside from the salt springs in Oneida and Onondaga coun- 
ties. There are " medicinal " ^" springs at Ballston, New 
Lebanon, Richfield, Avon, and Saratoga, and all these places 
have become noted summer-resorts. 

7. PEOPLE — SOCIAL AND POLITICAL 
FEATURES. 

Suggestions. — A discussion of the characteristics of a people will 
al\va)'s develop interesting topics of study, and it will be instructive 
to note the persistence with which social traits and customs handed 
down by successive generations, still linger among the people. The 
grave, stern, and dignified manner that marked the Puritan is still 
a noticeable trait in New England life, and it stands in strong con- 
trast with the unmetaphysical but practical character of the New 
Yorker. The influence of the Dutch patroons still exists in a self- 
constituted aristocracy of New York City ; and, in spite of the over- 
whelming element not of Anglo-Saxon descent, English laws and 
customs have ruled the state for more than two himdred years. 

It is well to call attention to the fact that government, no matter 
how corrupt it may become, is still a power for right and protection. 
Any citizen whose liberty or whose property is imperilled, has prac- 



GEOGRAPHY OF XEIV YORK STATE. 6i 

tically the whole army and navy of the United States at his bidding 
to protect him. As Carlylc tersely puts it ; " Whoso is possessed 
of a sixpence can command bread to feed him, philosophers to teach 
him, and queen to stand guard over him — to the extent of sixpence." 
Every pupil should be impressed with the fact that, on becoming of 
age, he or she is an integral part of the republic, and that respect for 
the law, honor for one's fellow-beings, and love for one's country, 
are duties that a republic has a right to demand. It is not only a 
proper thing, therefore, but an imperative necessity that every pupil 
should become acquainted with the principles of civil government, 
comprehending not only his rights, but his duties as a citizen of 
the state as well. 

Every pupil should also understand that the state provides for the 
education of its youth solely that the}' ma)' be trained to become in- 
telligent, upright, and dutiful citizens. Except in a few technical 
schools that have been established, the avocation that a boy or a girl 
may choose to follow is a matter of indifference to the state. In the 
spirit of true democracy there is but one result to be sought in edu- 
cation, namely — citizenship of the noblest type. For the education 
of its youth the state pays more than twelve millions of dollars every 
year. In view of this, it is plain that the duties of citizenship begin, 
not when the child becomes of age, but from the very moment he 
reaches the age in which he may learn the first steps of knowledge. 
Truancy, negligence, and disobedience, although they may be not 
more than misdemeanors against the statutory law, are crimes against 
moral law, and the pupil who wilfully disregards the duties of the 
school, com-mits a misdemeanor against the state, and sows seeds 
which shall yield corrupt citizenship. 

Questions. — What foreign nations are represented among the 
citizens in the city, village, or district in which you live? How does 
a person of foreign birth become a citizen of the United States ? Why 
do so many people of foreign birth emigrate to the United States? 
Who were the patroons ? 

Why are not the three branches of government — executive, legis- 
lative, and judicial — vested in one set of officers? Which do you 
think the better for the people, a constitution or an absolute mon- 



62 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

arch? Make a list of the offices of the district, the village (or city), 
and the county in which j-ou live. Who are the State Senators and 
Assemblymen in the district in which j'ou live? Who are the United 
States Senators for the state? Who is the Representative of your 
district? How does a bill proposed before the Legislature become 
a law? What is meant by the Governor's veto ? What rights do the 
constitution guarantee every person ? For what purposes are taxes 
levied? What persons may, and who may not, vote? What public 
offices may women in New York hold ? 

For what purposes are public schools established ? What is a 
kindergarten ? — a high school ? — a normal school ? — a college ? — a 
university? How are public schools supported? — private schools? 
What are some of the duties of the Board of Regents? For what 
purposes are teacher's institutes held? For what misdemeanors 
may a pupil be expelled from a public school? What persons are 
eligible to teach in public schools? Is the United States flag hoisted 
over your school-building during the sessions of the school? 

1. The first settlers of New York were emigrants from The 
Netherlands, and their descendants are still numerous in the 
eastern part of the state. The majority of the present popu- 
lation is descended from Elnglish and other European settlers. 
In addition to these, there is a large foreign-born population 
of Irish, German, and other European nationalities. 

2. Differing materially from the New-England type in 
social customs, the people of New York have always been 
noted for breadth of character, intelligence, and energy, and 
it is largely because of these qualifications that New York 
has become the foremost state in the Union in wealth and 
prosperity. 

3. Like that of the United States, the government of the 
state is vested in three branches — the legislative, which makes 
the laws ; the judicial,^' which interprets them, and decides 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. (^t^ 

upon their constitutionality ; and the executive, which admin- 
isters them. The officers of all these branches are sworn to 
support the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the 
state. 

4. The principal officers of the executive department are 
the Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, and Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, each elected for three years ; a Secretary 
of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-General, State 
Engineer, and Surveyor, each elected for two years. There 
are also various special officers, such as Superintendent of 
Insurance, Bank Commissioners, etc., some of whom are 
elected, and some appointed by the Governor. 

5. Every county has also certain executive officers. Of 
these, the sheriff, various clerks, auditors, registrars, and 
school commissioners are the principal. Township organiza- 
tion is neither so complete nor so far-reaching as in the New 
England States. 

6. The Legislative Department consists of a Senate of 
thirty-two members, and an Assembly of one hundred and 
twenty-eight members. Senators are elected for two, assem- 
blymen for one year. The Legislature assembles yearly, on 
the first Tuesday in January, or at such times as it may be 
convoked by the Governor. 

7. The Judicial Department consists of a court of appeals, 
a supreme court, various county courts, and justices' courts. 
Connected with certain of these courts is an appointive Grand 
Juiy, which inquires concerning the commission of crimes. 

8. The Court of Appeals is the highest judicial state au- 
thority in all cases except that of impeachment.-*^ It consists 



64 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

of the Chief Justice and six other judges of the Supreme 
Court. They hold office for fourteen years. 

9. The Supreme Court consists of forty-six justices, each 
elected for fourteen years. The state is divided into five 
judicial departments, and the justices are distributed among 
these. A branch of the court, presided over by one or more 
justices, sits in each count}- at stated times. In the trial of 
criminal cases, this court is styled the Court of Oyer and 
Terminer. 

10 County courts are presided over by county judges, each 
of whom is elected for six j'cars. In the trial of criminal cases, 
two associates, called Justices of Sessions, assist the judge. 
The court is then called the Court of Sessions. 

11. Justices' courts are held in each town. They deal 
mainly with petty civil cases and misdemeanors. Justices of 
the peace are elected for four years. Police courts are pro- 
vided for the trial of misdemeanors aga:inst municipal laws. 
In these courts, the prisoner's guilt or innocence is usually 
decided by the police justice ; in all others, by a jury.-^ 

12. The grant by the West India Company to the New 
Netherland Colony required the establishment of schools, 
and under the Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, a number 
of academies were established, some of which attained a 
wide reputation 

13. Early in the eighteenth century, a number of institu- 
tions were established, among them a free grammar school 
and King's (now Columbia) College. From this beginning, 
one of the best school-systems of the world has developed. 

14. Exclusive of the cities, there are about 12,000 school 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



6S 



districts, and in the various grades and classes, about 1,200,000 
children of the state are educated at an annual cost of 
$12,000,000. So well graded is the school-system that it 
practically begins at the cradle and ends with the university. 

15. For the professional training of teachers, eleven normal 
schools ^° have been established, and these are supplemented 
by institutes held annually in every county in the state. 

16. The general policy of the schools is shaped by the 
State Superintendent and by the Board of Regents. "i In 
each county are one or more School Commissioners, who su- 
pervise the schools within their districts. The schools of 
each district are regulated by a local board of trustees. 

17. In addition to these, there are several schools for man- 
ual training, seven for the instruction of deaf-mutes, and two 
for the instruction of the blind. There are also several re- 
formatories for incorrigible youth, and one for weak-minded 
persons.^2 

8. PEOPLE— INDUSTRIAL FEATURES. 

Suggestions. — It is well to bear in mind that all great industries 
are the result of geographical environment. Agriculture is not prof- 
itable in mountain highlands. Stock-raising would never thrive in 
the heart of a great city ; nor would extensive manufactures pay in a 
sparsely settled countr}^ remote from a harbor. Decrease the rain- 
fall one-third, and New York's supremacy as an agricultural state 
would soon be transferred to some other localit)-. Level off the 
undulating surface to the features of a prairie, and her manufactures 
would dwindle to a fraction of their present value. Elevate the sur- 
face three hundred feet, and the commercial supremacy of New York 
City would vanish. 

It will be a good plan to have, so far as possible, agricultural 
products displayed in the school museum. With respect to the 



66 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

grains, seed-products, and certain fruits, this is not impractical. 
Even specimens of the perishable fruits maybe kept long enough for 
pupils to learn the names and characteristics of the varieties. Some 
of them, vsrheat, for instance, can be shown in the various stages be- 
tween production and manufactured state. Such topics as the fertili- 
zation of flowers, — especially that of the corn plant, — the effects of 
transplantation, the diseases of milk and butter, etc., will always 
prove interesting and instructive object-lessons. 

The manufactured products of the locality are always of sufficient 
importance to stud}^ and it is an e.\cellent plan to have speci- 
mens in the various stages between crude material and completed 
article on exhibition. This is especially important in the case of 
ores and industrial minerals. 

The study of routes of transportation is one of great practical 
value in geographical work, and it will be well for the pupil to pre- 
pare a railway map of the state. Any old map, or an outline map, 
will answer as a basis. The routes may then be entered by drawing 
fine lines with red ink. Canals may be drawn in blue ink. Do not 
enter the names of any but principal stations, junctions, etc. The 
material may be obtained from railway-folders. Steamship routes 
may be charted in dotted or dashed lines. Above all others, the 
pupil should know the exports, imports, and manufactured products 
of his own locality. 

Exercises. — Would the industries of the state remain the same if 
the land of the state were perfectly level ? Would they change if the 
state were to be suddenly transferred to the Basin Region of the 
Western Highlands? Give reasons for your conclusions. 

What are the agricultural products of the county in which you 
live ? Make a list of six or eight of the principal ones, and tell how 
each is grown or otherwise obtained. What processes are employed 
in making wheat, broom-corn, cherries, strawberries, tomatoes, 
peaches, apples, butter, and cheese ready for the market? 

What products are manufactured in the district, village, or cit}^ in 
which you live? Is the motive-power water, coal, or electricity? 
Which of these is the more economical ? To what parts of the country 
are the manufactured articles exported? Describe any piece of ma- 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 67 

chinery, or an}- process of manufacture which you think unusually 
interesting. Are the products shipped by rail, by canal, or b}' 
steamer? Give a reason therefor. Are the raw materials, in general, 
produced in the neighborhood, or are they imported from a distance ? 
In what locality are hops mainly cultivated ? — tobacco ? — broom-corn ? 
How is maple sugar made ? Where are grapes chief!}' grown ? In 
what localities are salt, building-stone, and iron-ore each obtained? 
Name the railway lines that pass through the village or city in or 
near which you live. Name any canal or water route. Over what 
transportation routes would you pass in going from )'our home to 
New York City? — in going to Chicago? — in going to some summer 
resort with which you are acquainted ? — in going to London ? Can 
you name ten different kinds of railwa}' coaches and cars ? Can you 
tell the various lantern, flag, bell, and whistle signals used ? What 
is the danger signal by flag? — by semaphore ? — by lantern ? What 
kinds of freight arc carried by canal-boats ? Are the ocean-steamers 
of which you know, side-wheelers or propellers ? — the river- or lake- 
boats ? What is meant by a tug ? — a barge ? Can you tell the fastest 
time made by an ocean-steamer between New York (Sandy Hook) 
and Liverpool (Queenstown) ? What is meant by an accommodation 
train ? — an express? — a limited express? 

1. A rich soil, humid climate, and diversified surface, to- 
gether with other natural resources, have contributed to 
make New York the empire state of the Union in commerce, 
population, manufacture, and wealth. 

2. The state ranks among the first in the Union in the 
number and value of its farms. More than one-half the total 
area is under cultivation, and a still greater proportion is 
productive. About one-third of the products of the dairy 
and one-fourth of those of the orchard, consumed in the 
United States, are grown in New York. Oats and corn are 
the cereals most extensively cultivated.'''^ 

3. In the highland region dairy farming and the raising of 



68 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

thorough-bred stock ^ is the main industry. Hay, potatoes, 
and hops are among tlie most valuable products. Grape 
culture is carried on in the lake-valleys. Maple sugar, to- 
bacco, and broom-corn are among the special products. In 
the vicinity of New York City garden and dairy products are 
the chief sources of wealth. 

4. New York is also foremost in extent of manufacturing 
interests."-' Nearly fifty thousand establishments, employing 
more than $500,000,000 of capital and over five hundred 
thousand employees, produce an aggregate product of more 
than one billion dollars annually. Food-stuffs, machinery', 
clothing, leather and leather-goods, malt liquors, tobacco, 
metal-goods, books, and textile fabrics are the chief products 
of this industry. River-craft, canal-boats, and sailing vessels 
bear also an important place in the manufacturing interests. 

5. The chief product of the fisheries is the oyster, and next 
to this, the menhaden haul,^'' the latter being used for pur- 
poses of fertilization. The aggregate yearly value of the fish 
product is about $5,000,000. The Great Lakes yield the 
chief supplies of food-fish. 

6. The chief mining enterprises are those connected with 
the salt-wells, the iron-ore S' deposits, and the stone-quarries. 
Most of the iron-ore is mined in Dutchess, Essex, Clinton, 
and Orange counties. The most extensive quarries are those 
of Ulster County. The yield of the oil wells, though declin- 
ing yearly, is still an important product Hydraulic cement 
and buhr- or mill-stone are also extensively mined. 

7. The foreign commerce of New York centres mainly at 
New York City,^^ and represents the commerce of the United 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STA'JE. 69 

States. About two-thirds of the imports of the United States 
pass through the Custom-house of New York City.^^ In 
18S9, the total vahie of the imports and exports aggregated 
nearly $i,ooo,oco,ooo. 

8. The domestic commerce consists mainly in the exchange 
of manufactured articles for raw materials and food-stuffs. 
The lake-coast trade is also enormous. This centres mainly 
at Buffalo. 

9. At the piers of North River may be found steamers and 
sailing-vessels from every part of the world. About fifty 
steel-built ocean greyhounds, with a tonnage each of from 
4000 to 10,000, ply between New York City and European 
ports. There are also steamship or sailing-lines to various 
South American, Mexican, Gulf, and Pacific Coast ports.^" 

10. The railwa\s '^ have an aggregate length of 7700 miles. 
Solid trains to Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Boston, Mon- 
treal, and Washington are conveyed over several routes, and 
with not more than one or two changes, passengers may de- 
bark at New Orleans, Mexico, San Francisco, or Portland, 
Oregon. 

11. The prfncipal trunk lines ^^ ^j-g the Pennsylvania, Bal- 
timore and Ohio, Lehigh Valley, New York Central, West 
Shore, and Erie railways. All these roads have termini 
either at Jersey City,^'^ or New York City. Aside from these, 
there is a net-work of local and connecting lines. 

12. For the transportation of freight, many of the railway 
companies have provided separate tracks, and, in some in- 
stances, have built separate roads. 

13. There is also one of the most complete system of 



7° 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



canals to be found in any part of the world. The Erie 
Canal, 363 miles in length, furnishes a direct water-route be- 
tween Buffalo and the lake-ports on one hand, and New York 
City on the other. 

14. In addition to these, the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
opens a direct route between Delaware and Chesapeake bays 
and Hudson River. The Champlain Canal connects Lake 
Champlain with the Hudson. Erie Canal is owned by the 
state ; the others are private corporations. 

15. For the transportation of crude petroleum, pipe-lines 
have been laid from the oil-fields of Pennsylvania to Buffalo 
and to Brooklyn. In several of the larger cities, elevated 
steam-railways, cable-railways, and electric-railways have 
been constructed for passenger traffic. 

9. HISTORICAL. 

Suggestions. — The general histon- of the state can be learned 
from many sources at the pupil's command ; the history of the coun- 
ty, the city, or the village is usually not a matter of public record, 
and must be ascertained by personal cflbrt. It is doubtful if there 
can be a more practical side to the study of history than that which 
pertains to one's own home and vicinity. In general, the study of 
the origin and history of place-names, social customs, the introduc- 
tion of new industries, or the disappearance of old ones will be bet- 
ter topics for discussion than those of disgusting political intrigues. 

Questions. — What was the object of Hudson's vo3-age to the New 
World? — of Champlain's? How carne the English to lay claim to 
the territory ? What is the meaning of the name "Netherlands"? 
Is it applicable to New York? After whom were the following 
names given ; tell whether they are of English, French, Dutch, or 
Indian origin : Rensselaer, Hudson, Manhattan, Spuyten Duyvel, 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



71 



Buffalo, Champlain, Seneca, Chateaugay, Canandaigua, Oswego, 
Niagara, Tonawanda, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Flushing, Peckskill, 
Alban}', Westchester, Steuben, Delaware? Make a list of the coun- 
ties named after distinguished men. Make a list of those bearing 
Indian names. In what part of the state are the remaining counties 
.situated ? Tell what 3'ou can about their names. Write the history 
of any town, sect, or settlement 3'ou may think interesting. Make a 
list of all the Indian names applied to places or natural features in 
the county in which you live. Can you tell the origin or the mean- 
ing of any of them ? What historical associations are connected with 
Saratoga? — Ticonderoga? — Ft. Edward? — Crown Point? — West 
Point ? What effect had the Erie Canal on the history of New York ? 
— the Welland Canal ? — the suspension bridge at Niagara Falls? 

1. In 1609, Hendrick (or Henry) Hudson, an English sailor 
in the employ of the Dutch, while coasting about the New 
York Lower Bay,^' discovered the river that now bears his 
name. He ascended the stream as far as the site of Albany 
with his ship, the Half Moon., and by smaller boats, some ten 
or twelve miles farther. 

2. In the same year, a French explorer, Champlain, pene- 
trated the northern part of this region, discovering Lake 
Champlain and Lake George. This territory was therefore 
claimed as part of New France. 

3. Five years after the discovery of the Hudson River the 
Dutch made a settlement on Manhattan Island, to which, in 
honor of the capital of their fatherland, they gave the name 
New Amsterdam. They also called their thriving colony 
New Netherlands.*' 

4. A few years later, the English had made settlements in 
Massachusetts and the Swedes in Pennsylvania. In the 
course of time, however, as these colonies grew, and ex- 



72 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



tended their settlements along the coast, frequent disputes 
arose, because both colonies claimed the same territory. 

5. Because of Hudson's discover}' of the Delaware, the 
Dutch asserted their right to all the land which the Swedes 
had formed into the colony of New Sweden. So in 1664, a, 
fleet of Dutch vessels captured all the Swedish forts along the 
Delaware, and thus the colony of New Netherlands acquired 
still greater strength and importance. 

6. In the meantime, the clash of ownership to the soil had 
begun to make trouble between the Dutch and their English 
neighbors in Connecticut. So the right to the territory by 
virtue of prior discovery was again called into question, and 
this time it did not result so happily for the Dutch, 

7. More than one hundred years before Hudson's vessel 
entered New York Bay, Sebastian Cabot, an English sailor, 
had visited the north-east coast of North America. Based 
upon this right,^^ Charles H. of England sent his brother, 
the Duke of York, to whom he made a grant of the territory, 
with a fleet of vessels to take possession of it, 

8. Rather singularly, the Dutch offered but little resist- 
ance. The reason was that they were heartily tired of the 
tyranny and incompetency of their colonial governors. So 
New Netherlands became an English possession, and New 
Amsterdam became New York City. A few years afterward 
(1673), the Dutch recaptured and held the province for a few 
months, but they soon lost it again, and the English held it 
until the Revolution. 

9. During all these years, however, the English colonists 
were extending their settlements north and west, and again 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



n 



they had to battle for possession of the soil. All along the 
St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, the French, in their em- 
pire of New France, had been growing and extending their 
settlements, quite as energetically as the English. 

10. By and by there arose the same question as to whom 
belonged the disputed soil that was claimed by both peoples. 
The question could be settled only by the force of arms, and 
by arms it was decided. From 1687 to 1754 there was a suc- 
cession of conflicts which ended only when the French had 
given up about all the possessions they held, east of the 
Mississippi River. 

11. During these struggles there were many exciting 
events. The countiy around Lake George and Lake Cham- 
plain bristled with hostile encampments, and fierce battles 
were fought at Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and Fort William 
Henry. Their close marked the beginning of a period of 
rapid growth, extended development, and great prosperity. 

12. But during the next forty years a still more momentous 
question troubled the hearts, not only of the New York colo- 
nists, but of every American settlement under the English 
flag. This was the growth of the spirit of liberty. A few 
ill-advised acts of oppression by the mother country was fol- 
lowed by an uprising of all the colonies. 

13. In the successful struggle for independence New York 
was a theatre of strategic events, and her soil was consecrated 
by the blood of her bravest men. Crown Point, Ticonderoga, 
Long Island, Stony Point, New York City, and Saratoga 
were the scenes of hard-fought battles. 

14. After the close of the War of the Revolution, the 



74 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

colony became one of the thirteen states that formed the 
United States, and the tide of prosperity again swept along. 
Albany was made the capital of the new state in 1797. 

15. The peace, but not the prosperity, of the state was 
again interrupted in 181 2 by another war between the United 
States and Great Britain. So far as New York was concerned, 
the principal events were Commodore M'Uonough's victory 
on Lake Cham plain and the battle of Lundy's Lane. 

16. In the meantime, several important events had occurred 
which tended to increase the prosperity of the state. These 
were mainly the successful application of steam to naviga- 
tion^ and the construction of the Erie Canal. The former 
opened the heart of the country to domestic commerce ; 
the latter was the beginning of a foreign commerce which 
even the most enthusiastic optimist could scarcely have 
dreamed of. 

10. CENTRES OF POPULATION. 

Suggestions. — It is not thought necessary to propound in these 
pages an)' questions concerning the location of towns and villages. 
The teacher's and pupil's judgment in such exercises would prob- 
ablj' be superior to the author's. In general, it is more practical to 
locate a town or city on some trunk-line of railway than in an ob- 
scure count)', or on some insignificant stream. If a town or cit)' be 
an important sea-, lake-, or river-port, however, this should be men- 
tioned. It goes without saying, also, that every pupil should be 
thoroughly acquainted with the boundaries, geography, drainage, 
and ph)'sical features of the county, and the city or village in which 
he lives. 

I. The State is divided into sixty counties, one of which 
constitutes the City of New York. Each county, New York 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



75 



excepted, is divided into townsliips. Included in the various 
county areas, but separate from their organizations, are twen- 
ty-seven cities. The capital of a county is called the county- 
seat, or county-town. 

2. Cities are incorporated under a charter, or permit, 
granted by the state. They are usually controlled each by a 
Mayor and Board of Aldermen, elected by the people. Cities 
are divided into wards, and wards into precincts. A city can 
enact any laws for its own good which do not conflict with 
state laws. Nearly all the cities of New York are on nav- 
igable waters. 

3. Villages are not incorporated under so broad a charter. 
Their laws are enacted by the state, or under certain general 
regulations which govern the rights and privileges of villages. 

4. New York City is the largest city and chief commer- 
cial emporium in the Westei"n Continent. Its population in 
1890, estimated at 1,800,000, is surpassed by that of London 
and Paris only. With the City Hall as a centre, a circle, 
twenty miles in diameter, encloses a population of more than 
3,500,000. 

5. The city embraces an area of forty-one and a half square 
miles,^'' the greater part of which is included in Manhattan 
Island. Beyond the island, it extends to Westchester County 
on the north, and to Bronx River on the east. Including 
Harlem River, a kill connecting North and East rivers, the 
city has a water-front of twenty -five miles. 

6. Four lines of elevated railway, extending nearly the 
whole length of the city, every day carry a quarter of a 
million people from their homes to their business places and 



76 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

back. The largest suspension-bridge^^ in the world con- 
nects the city with Brooklyn, and ferry-routes bring the neigh- 
boring cities into still closer connection. 

7. The foreign commerce extends to every part of the 
world, and more than half the foreign trade of the United 
States passes through the port of this city. Railways con- 
nect it with eveiy important town in the United States, and 
through trunk-lines with all the larger cities. 

8. It is also the chief centre of manufacture in the eastern 
part of the United States, and the value of the manufactured 
product surpasses that of any other city in the Union. 
Clothing, food-stuffs, furniture, machinery, and metal-ware 
are the principal items. About 40,000,000 books are yearly 
printed and distributed. The American Book Company is 
the largest corporation of the kind in the world. 

9. Probably no other city in the world has so many hos- 
pitals, libraries, and institutions of learning. Among the 
latter are Cooper Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
the American Museum of Natural History, and the National 
School of Design. Central Park, an important conservator 
of public health, situated in the heart of the city, contains an 
area of 875 acres. 

10. Brooklyn, the second city in size, is situated on the 
western end of Long Island. Practically it is a part of 
New York City, with which its business interests and enter- 
prises are identical. Its extensive water-front is crowded 
with piers and warehouses. These, with Atlantic Dock and 
Brooklyn and Erie basins,''' give the city no small commer- 
cial standing:. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



77 



11. The city is noted for its beautiful residences, and 
probably no other city in the Union has such well-paved and 
clean streets. Elevated railways leading from Brooklyn 
Bridge and the ferries traverse the whole length of the city. 

12. The public school-system is one of the best in the 
United States, and there are many higher institutions of 
learning, among which are the Collegiate and Polytechnic 
Institute. The estimated population of Brooklyn is 800,000. 

13. Buffalo, the metropolis of Western New York and 
the county-seat of Erie County, next to Chicago, is the chief 
port of the lake region. The city has an extensive water- 
front on Lake Erie and Niagara River. Its harbor, protected 
by massive break-waters, is one of the best and most com- 
modious on the lakes. 

14. It is the western terminus of the Erie Canal and the 
centre of about a dozen lines of railway. Buffalo is one of 
the leading grain-markets in the United States, and its thirty 
elevators^" are capable of handling 3,000,000 bushels of 
grain daily. 

15. The city contains extensive flouring-mills and iron- 
manufactures. It is noted for its wide streets, fine parks, 
and beautiful residences. Among other noteworthy enter- 
prises is one of the finest and largest engraving and art- 
printing establishments in the United States. 

16. Albany, the capital of the state, is situated on the 
west bank of the Hudson River. It is the eastern terminus 
of the Erie Canal, and the centre for all transportation routes 
that pass through the iMohawk depression. The manufactur- 
ing interests of the city are extensive and varied. 



78 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

17. Among the important institutions are the State Library, 
and the Museum of Agriculture, Geology, and Natural His- 
tory, controlled by the State Geological and Agricultural 
Departments. A State Normal School and Dudley Observa- 
tory are located in this city. The Capitol, one of the most 
massive buildings in the United States, cost over fifteen 
million dollars. 

18. Rochester, the count5'-seat of Monroe County, is 
situated at the falls of the Genesee River, ^^ a few miles from 
Lake Ontario. It is one of the largest cities in the United 
States not on navigable waters. Its growth and development 
are due mainly to the vast water-power at the falls. 

19. The manufactures are extensive. They include some 
of the largest flouring-mills east of the INIississippi and the 
largest carriage factory in the United States. In the vicinity 
are probably the largest tree- and seed-nurseries on the conti- 
nent. A university, a theological seminary, and the Western 
House of Refuge are located here. 

20. Troy, the count}''-seat of Rensselaer County, is situ- 
ated on an alluvial terrace, at the head of navigation of the 
Hudson River. It is the terminus of the Champlain Canal, 
and is an important railway and manufacturing centre. 
Ferries and local lines of railway place the city in close con- 
nection with Albany. 

Shirts, collars and cufifs, hosier}'^, mathematical instruments, 
and terrestrial globes are among the articles of special manu- 
facture. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is located here. 

21. Syracuse, the county-seat of Onondaga County, is a 
railway and manufacturing centre, and an important grain 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 79 

and lumber market. There are varied manufactures of iron 
and steel goods, but the chief industry is that connected witli 
salt-making. °' Syracuse is the seat of a university and the 
State Asylum for Idiots. 

22. Utica, one of the county-seats of Oneida County,'"''^ 
and an important railway centre, is also a station of the Erie 
Canal, and a terminus of a canal connecting the Susquehanna 
and Hudson rivers. Aside from its manufacturing interests, 
it is the centre of a rich agricultural district. It is the seat 
of a large dairy trade. A State Lunatic Asylum is located 
here. 

23. Auburn,''' the county-seat of Cayuga County, is situ- 
ated at the foot of Owasco Lake. On account of the excel- 
lent water-power, its manufacturing interests, especially those 
of farming machinery and textile fabrics, are of considerable 
importance. A theological seminaiy and one of the state 
prisons are located here. 

24. Oswego, one of the county-seats of Oswego, is a port 
of entry on Lake Ontario, and the commercial outlet of a 
large region with which it has canal and railway connection. 
Its harbor is protected by jetties and a sea-wall, which give 
the city several miles of wharfage. It is one of the largest 
grain markets in the Eastern States, and it is noted for its ex- 
tensive flouring-mills and starch-factories. Iron manufacture 
and ship-building are also important industries. One of the 
state normal schools is located here. 

25. Kingston, the county-seat of Ulster, an important 
river-port of the Hudson, is practically the northern terminus 
of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and an important coal 



8o GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

market. Among the principal industries are ice-cutting, 
stone-cutting, and the manufacture of brick, cement, and 
malt liquors. 

26. Elmira, the county- seat of Chemung County, is the 
largest city in the state on the Erie Railway, between New 
York and Buffalo. It is the seat of extensive iron manufac- 
tures, car-building establishments, and flouring-mills. Elmira 
Female College is located here. Because of its healthful 
situation and beautiful surroundings, the city is a favorite 
summer resort. 

27. Poughkeepsie, the count}' seat of Dutchess County, 
is an important centre of river trade. At this point Hudson 
River is spanned by a steel bridge, over which most of the 
through trains between Philadelphia and Boston now pass. 
The manufacturing interests include iron-furnaces and foun- 
dries. Vassar College, for women, is located here. 

28. Cohoes, at the confluence of the Mohawk with the 
Hudson, is one of the chief manufacturing cities of the state. 
Its importance is due mainly to the falls of the Mohawk, 
which furnish an abundance of water-power, and to its situa- 
tion at the junction of the Erie and Champlain canals. Cot- 
ton fabric, knit goods, hosier)', wrought iron, steam fire- 
engines, axes, and pins are among the principal manufactured 
goods. 

29. Yonkers, a river-port of the Hudson, a few miles 
north of New York City, is noted chiefly as a place of resi 
dence for business-men of New York City. It contains man- 
ufactures of felt hats, carpets, textile goods of silk, and cot- 
ton goods. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. gi 

30. Newburgh, one of the county-seats of Orange 
County, is a river-port of the Hudson, and the centre of an 
extensive trade in dairy products and knuber. During the 
Revolutionary War it was for a time the head quarters of 
Washington's army. 

31. Binghamton, the county-seat of Broome County, 
is the seat of considerable manufacturing interests. Its situ- 
ation on the Chenango Canal, and at the junction of several 
railways, gives the city fine shipping facilities. Ne.xt to 
New York, it is the principal tobacco mart in the Middle 
States. Farming implements, boots and shoes are among the 
noteworthy manufactures. 

32. Jamestown, Chautauqua County, situated at the 
lower end of Chautauqua Lake, is a favorite summer resort. 
The city is lighted, and, in part, heated by natural gas. Lake 
steamers connect the city with Mayville. Manufacture is the 
chief industry. 

33. Long Island City, on East River, is a part of the 
overflow of New York City, with the interests of which it is 
identical. It is the terminus of the principal railways of 
Long Island. Most of the storage tanks and refineries con- 
nected with the coal-oil trade are located here. 

34. Schenectady, the county-seat of Schenectady County, 
is noted mainly for its railway-locomotive building establish- 
ment. It is also the market for much of the broom corn 
grown in the Mohawk Valley, and is the seat of extensive 
broom-manufacture. Union College is located here. 

35. Lockport, the county-seat of Niagara County, derives 
its name from the locks, ten in number, in the Erie Canal. 



82 GECGRAPHY OF NEW YORK ST A IE. 

The latter descends sixty feet at this place. The canal also 
furnishes water to various manufacturing establishments, 
through a race three-quarters of a mile in length. Flour, 
lumber, cotton, and woollen fabrics are the chief items of 
manufacture. The famous Medina sandstone is quarried 
here. Lockport was probably the first city ever heated by 
steam supplied to the various buildings and residences by 
pipes from a central station. 

36. Rome, a county-seat of Oneida County, is an impor- 
tant manufacturing city. The principal interests are con- 
nected with the manufacture of wrought iron, and the build- 
ing of railway locomotives and coaches. 

37. Ogdensburgh, a port of entry and river-port of the 
St. Lawrence, is the seat of considerable commerce with 
Lake Champlain and Canadian ports. Its industries are 
mainly connected with the marketing of grain and the manu- 
facture of flour and lumber. 

38. Watertown, the county-seat of Jefferson County, is 
situated on both banks of Black River, which affords unlim- 
ited water-power. The industries are mainly manufactures; 
and the products, sewing-machines, paper, lumber, leather 
and woollen goods. 

39. Hudson, the county-seat of Columbia County, is at 
the head of deep-water navigation of the Hudson River. It 
is the centre of considerable river-trade and iron-manu- 
facture. 

40. Dunkirk, next to Buffalo the most important port on 
Lake Erie, is a port of entr}', and one of the most rapidly- 
growing cities in the state. Aside from its lake-commerce, it 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



S3 



is the seat of extensive and varied manufactures \ among 
them, a railway-locomotive building-estabhshmcnt. 

41. Amsterdam is the largest centre of population of 
Montgomery County. Its most important industry is the 
manufacture of dairy products and knit-goods. 

42. Ithaca, the county- seat of Tompkins County, is situ- 
ated at the head of Cayuga Lake. Aside from its manufac- 
turing industries, it is an important centre of commercial 
traffic. Cornell University is located here. 

43. Hornellsville, Steuben County, is a rapidly-growing 
city, supported by varied and extensive manufactures. 



Villages. — The following are the principal villages 
of the state, arranged alphabetically. A few of them surpass 
some of the cities in population and importance. 

44. Albion is the county-seat of Orleans County, and dis- 
tributing point of a large agricultural region. 

45. Ballston, the county-seat of Saratoga Count}^, is a 
summer resort, and is noted for its mineral springs. 

46. Batavia, tlie county-seat of Genesee County, is one 
of the largest and most beautiful villages in the state. Its 
extensive manufactures include those of reapers and mowers, 
and other farming machinery. Fruit-canning is an important 
industry. There is also a state school for the blind. 

47. Brockport, Monroe County, is the seat of one of the 
state normal schools. 

48. Caldwell, the county-seat of Warren Count\% is a 
noted summer resort, at the upper end of Lake George. It 
is also called Lake George. 



84 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

49. Canandaigua, the county-seat of Ontario Count}', is 
a railway centre of considerable importance. 

50. Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, is a port of entry 
on Lake Ontario, at the head of the St. Lawrence River. 

51. Catskill, the county-seat of Greene County, is a river- 
port and summer resort. 

52. College Point, on Long Island, near Flushing, is 
mainly a place of suburban residence for New York,business- 
men. 

53. Cooperstown, the county-seat of Otsego County, 
was named in honor of James Fenimore Cooper, the novel- 
ist, who lived here. The village is beautifully situated on 
the Susquehanna River, at the lower end of Otsego Lake. 

54. Cold Spring is a summer resort opposite West 
Point. Here are extensive iron manufactures. 

55. Corning, a county-seat of Steuben County, is a rail- 
way centre and a terminus of the Chemung Canal. Among 
its industries are car-building works and an establishment for 
the manufacture of cut-glass ware 

56. Cortland, the county-seat of Cortland County, is the 
seat of extensive manufactures of wagons and wire-goods. A 
state normal school is located here. 

57. Dansville, Livingston County, has an abundant 
water-power, and contains paper- and flouring-mills. 

58. Flushing, Queens County, Long Island, is die home 
of many New York business-men. It is noted for its fine 
residences, excellent schools, and extensive tree nurseries. 

59. Fort Edward, Washington County, contains iron- 
manufacturing establishments and paper-mills. The village 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



85 



is built on the site of old Fort Edward, a strategic-point 
during the French and Indian wars. 

60. Fulton, Oswego County, has manufacturing interests 
of some importance. Its water-power is derived from Os- 
wego River. 

61. Geneva, Ontario County, is delightfully situated at 
the foot of Seneca Lake, and, during the summer season, is 
in the line of a heavy passenger-traffic for tourists ai i-oiite 
between Niagara Falls and the East. There are extensive 
tree- and seed-nurseries, and a state experimental agricultural 
station here. 

62. Glen's Falls, Warren County, is a fam.ous summer 
resort and manufacturing village near Lake George. The 
dalles of the Hudson River, which here falls about fifty feet, 
furnish an abundance of water-power. Black marble of ex- 
cellent quality is quarried here. 

63. Gloversville, Fulton County, derives its name from 
the glove-making industry which centres here. It joins 
Johnstown, the county-seat, and is probably the largest village 
in the state. 

64. Green Island, situated on an isUmd in the Hudson, 
opposite Troy, is a part of the overgrowth of that city. It is 
a manufacturing village, and an important shipping-point for 
lumber and marble. 

65. Greenbush, opposite Albany, is an outgrowth of the 
latter. It has extensive manufacturing enterprises. 

66. Hoosic Falls, Rensselaer County, derives its indus- 
trial importance from the falls of the Hoosic River. 

67. Hempstead, Queens County, Long Island, is a village 



86 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

consisting mainly of the residences of New York and Brook- 
lyn business-men. 

68. Hornellsville, Steuben County, is a rapidly-growing 
village, supported by varied and extensive manufactures. 

69. Ilion, Herkimer County, is mainly a manufacturing 
village. Among the products of its industries are farming 
implements, fire-arms, and sewing-machines. 

70. Jamaica, the county-seat of Queens County, Long 
Island, is the residence of New York and Brooklyn business- 
men. 

71. Johnstown, the county-seat of Fulton County, is the 
seat of very large skin- and leather-dressing industries. It is 
near Gloversville, with which its interests are identical. 

72. Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, is opposite the 
mouth of the Mohawk River. Among its special manufac- 
tures are brushes and oil-cloth. 

73. Little Falls, Herkimer County, is built on both sides 
of the gorge which constitutes the water-gap of the Mohawk 
River. The Erie Canal and two trunk-lines of railway pass 
through this narrow gap. The fall of the river, forty-two feet, 
affords ample water-power for the extensive manufactures. It 
is one of the largest cheese markets in the country. 

74. Lyons, the county-seat of Wayne County, is situated 
in a rich farming region. It is the centre of an extensive trade 
in grain and tobacco, and has probablv the most extensive 
manufacture of oil of peppermint in the Western Continent. 

75. Malone, the county-seat of Franklin County, is cliiefly 
a manufacturing village. Woollen goods, paper, and flour are 
the principal items of manufacture. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 87 

76. Matteawan, Dutchess County, derives its industries 
from tlie foils of Fislikill Creek, whicii supplies water-power 
to its factories. 

77. Medina, Orleans County, has given a name to the 
geological formation known as " Medina " sandstone, which 
occurs here in great abundance. The quarrying and ship- 
ment of this stone is the principal industry of the locality. 

78. Middletown, Orange County, is a shipping-point for 
the dairy products of one of the richest agricultural regions in 
the state. The village has also varied manufactures. One 
of the insane asylums is located here. 

79. New Brighton, Richmond County, Staten Island, is 
a thriving suburban village, containing the homes of New 
York business-men. 

80. New Rochelle, Westchester County, is delightfully 
situated on Long Island Sound. It is also a village of sub- 
urban residences. 

81. Niagara Falls, Niagara County, is a famous sum- 
mer resort for tourists who visit the falls of Niagara River. 

82. Norwich, the county-seat of Chenango County, is the 
seat of extensive manufactures. It is situated in a rich farm- 
ing region, and is the centre of several lines of railway. 

83. Nyack, Rockland County, overlooks the expansion 
of Hudson River called Tappan Sea. There are important 
manufactures, and a heavy shipment of dairy- and garden- 
products to New York City. 

84. Olean, Cattaraugus County, is the seat of a very ex- 
tensive petroleum trade, where several of the largest oil- 
refineries in the world have been erected. The storage tanks 



88 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

have a capacity of about 3,000,000 gallons, and one of the 
pumping-stations of the pipe-line extending from the oil- 
regions of Pennsylvania to New York City, is located here. 

85. Oneida, Madison County, is in the centre of a rich 
agricultural region. Hop-raising and dairy-farming form the 
leading industry. There is also considerable manufacture. 

86. OwegO, the county-seat of Tioga County, is the centre 
of both a farming and a manufacturing region. Flour, leather, 
marble, and carriages are the principal products of its in- 
dustries. 

87. Peekskill is an important river-port and shipping- 
point on the Hudson. Stove- and other iron-manufactures 
are the leading industries. 

88. Penn Yan, the county-seat of Yates County, is situ- 
ated at the foot of Keuka Lake. It is in the line of summer 
travel, and lake-steamers connect it with Hammondsport. 
An abundance of water-power gives the village consider- 
able importance as a manufacturing place. A large malt- 
house and a barrel factory are among the special items 
of manufacture. 

89. Plattsburgh, a port of entry, and the county-seat of 
Clinton County, is situated on Lake Champlain, in the vicin- 
ity of the iron-mines. It is a shipping-point for iron-ore and 
lumber. 

90. Port Chester, Westchester County, is a suburban 
village of New York City. 

91. Port Jervis, Orange County, at the meeting of the 
boundaries of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, is a 
popular summer resort, and is noted for its beautiful scenery. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 89 

Here are railroad shops, numerous manufacturing establish- 
ments, and a canal basin. 

92. Richburg', Allegany County, is situated in the upper 
part of the Genesee Valley. It is the centre of varied manu- 
factures and agricultural interests. 

93. Salamanca, Cattaraugus County, is the shipping- 
point of a large lumber region. Railway machine- and car- 
shops are the only important manufacturing establishments. 

94. Sag Karbor, Suffolk County, Long Island, is a port 
of entry, and the seat of considerable coasting trade. It is 
a popular sea-side resort. 

95. Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, is one of the 
most famous summer resorts on the Western Continent. Its 
popularity is due to the many mineral springs which are 
alleged to have curative properties. Near the village is the 
town of Stillwater, made famous by victories over the British 
troops during the War of the Revolution. 

96. Saugerties, Ulster County, is mainly important for 
its foundries and factories. 

97. Seneca Falls, at the lower end of Seneca Lake, has 
an abundance of water-power. Among its manufactures is 
that of steam fire-engines. 

98. Sing Sing, Westchester County, has extensive manu- 
facturing establishments. Among its special products are 
files and lawn-mowers. A state prison is located here. 

99. Stapleton, Richmond County, Staten Island, is the 
residence of many New York business-men. 

100. Suspension Bridge is a port of entry, a short dis- 
tance below the village of Niagara Falls. It receives its 



90 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



name from the railway suspension-bridge connecting the 
opposite shores of Niagara River. 

loi. Tarrytown, Westchester County, near New York 
City, is mainly a village of suburban residence. 

102. Wappinger's Falls, Dutchess County, owes its 
prosperity to the ample water-power furnished by Wappinger 
Creek. 

103. Waterloo, a county-seat of Seneca Coimty, is situ- 
ated at the outlet of Seneca Lake. Its interests are chiefly 
manufacturing, and among the special products are shawls. 

104. Watkins, the county-seat of Schuyler County, is 
situated at the head of Seneca Lake. Near Watkins is the 
famous glen, to which the village is mainly indebted for its 
prosperity. 

105. West Point, Orange County, is built on a terrace 
of the Hudson River. Aside from its importance as the seat 
of the United States Military Academy, it is possessed of 
interesting historical associations. 

106. West Troy, Albany County, opposite Troy, is an 
overgrowth of that city. Its interests are mainly manufac- 
turing, and include a United States (Watervliet) Arsenal. 

107. White Hall, Washington County, is situated at the 
head of Lake Champlain, at the northern terminus of the 
Champlain Canal. The chief interests are the manufacture 
and shipment of lumber. 

108. White Plains, Westchester Count}^ is mainly noted 
for the battle fought here diunng the Revolutionary War. 



APPENDIX. 



NOTES. 



I. The nortliern boundary of the state is a line first definitely sur- 
vej^ed b}^ Valentine and Collins, in 1774. It is an extension of the 
northern boundary of Vermont, and was intended to coincide with 
the 45th parallel. As a matter of fact, however, it varies in places 
several hundred feet from a true parallel. The north-eastern corner 
of the state is about thirty feet north of the 45th parallel. The bound- 
ary separating the greater part of Penns3lvania from New York is 
theoretically the 42d parallel, but practically it is an irregular line, 
varying from 760 feet north to 350 feet south of the true parallel. 
The western boundary was fixed b}" treaty to be a " meridian-line 
drawn through the westerly bent or inclination of Lake Ontario." 
At the extreme western part of Lake Ontario is the small estuary, 
Burlington Bay. This estuary was not considered a part of Lake 
Ontario, and so niost maps show the western boundary apparently 
two or three miles too far to the eastward. This explanation, how- 
ever, clears the apparent discrepancy. The irregularity in the bound- 
ary between New York and Connecticut was the result of a com- 
promise between the two states. Connecticut, desiring an increase 
of coast on Long Island Sound, purchased from the Duke of York 
a strip 96 square miles in area l)'ing on the Sound, giving in ex- 
change therefor a narrow strip of equal area from her western border. 
This left an angle of Massachusetts, known as Boston Corners, pro- 
jecting into New York. The greater part of this triangle was ceded 
to New York in 1853, in order that the latter state might "correct 
certain irregularities in the sale of intoxicating liquors." In 1834, 
an Act of Congress gave New York jurisdiction over the entire 



92 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



width of that part of the Hudson River l}"ing south of Spuyten Duy- 
vel Creek, providing, however, that all vessels lying at the wharves 
or docks on the Jersey side should be under the jurisdiction of New 
Jersey, excepting in the application of quarantine laws. 

2. The following list embraces the principal islands belonging to 
the State : 



In Ne-w York Bay and 
Long Island Sound. 
Bedlow's (U. S.). 
Blackvvell's (City). 
Ellis (U. S.). 
Fisher's. 
Gardiner's. 
Governor's (U. S.). 
Hart's. 
Long. 

Manhattan (City). 
Plum. 

Randall's (City). 
Shelter. 



Stat en. 
Ward's (City). 

In Niaf^ara River. 

Beaver. 

Buckthorn. 

Cayuga. 

Goat. 

Grand. 

Rattlesnake. 

Sisters. 

Squaw. 

Strawberry. 

Tonawanda. 



In St. Lawrence River. 
Carlton. 
Fox. 
Gallup. 
Grenadier. 
Grindstone. 

Many of the " Thousand 
Islands." 

Iti Lake Champlaiii. 

Crab. 

Dundas. 

Schuyler. 

Valcour. 



Not included in the foregoing are several islands in the St. Lawrence 
belonging to the United States. 

3. Long Island is the largest of a chain of islands extending par- 
allel to the Connecticut shore. It is a portion of a partly-submerged 
ridge, whose summit varies from 380 feet above to about 100 feet 
below the sea-level. Its surface has an average height of about 70 
feet above mean tide, and is covered with strata of sand, gravel, and 
till. Deeper down, the surface drift gives way to bowlders of granitic 
rock, greenstone, and sandstone. One of these is about fifty feet 
long and forty feet in its shortest diameter. A range of hills extends 
along the island for about sixty miles, its highest summits being 
about 300 feet high. The surface is dotted here and there with 
lakes and ponds. One of them. Lake Ronkonkoma, near Lake- 
land, is subject to periods of increase and decrease in volume, the 
interval between high and low water being about seven )-ears. At 
high water the area of the lake is about one-third greater than at the 
season of low stage. Long Island consists almost wholly of an im- 
mense deposit of glacial drift — in fact, the terminal moraine of a 
vast sheet of glacial ice. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



93 



4. For the explanation of this word, see note 12, p. 97. 

5. Several causes have combined to give the state its varied suv- 
face, but the ones most potent were the plication of the strata into 
mountain-ranges, and their subsequent degradation b}' glaciers. So 
extensive was the degradation of the mountain-ranges, that, in many 
places, they have been almost wholly obliterated. In a few instances 
only can the individual ranges be traced throughout their entire 
extent, and, in many places, character and age of the rocks, and not 
continuit}' of elevation, furnishes the distinguishing clews. Since 
the time of the Glacial epoch, the surface has been alternately 
depressed and raised, and this has added to the confusion and 
obliteration of surface features. If it were not for their subsequent 
degradation, the whole amplitude of the fold of these mountains 
would aggregate upward of four or irve miles. South of the Penn- 
sylvania border, the folds, although about as greatly worn, are re- 
markable for their continuity ; but in New York and the New 
England States, the degradation has been far less uniform. This is 
owing mainly to glaciation, for the great ice sheet which covered 
almost every part of New York and the New England States reached 
south of the Pennsylvania border in two or three places only, mainly 
in the north-eastern and south-western corners of the state. 

6. Several different forms of this word appear, as will be noticed 
in the text. On Adlum & Walter's map of Penns3'lvania, 1790, the 
form Allegany only appears. On Reading McDowell's map of the 
state, two forms, Allegheny Mountains and Allegany River, are found. 
Alleghany is a still later form, and is a monstrosity for which there 
is no authorit}' whatever. In the Engineer Department of the Penn- 
sylvania Railway but one form, Allegheny, is used ; the State Geo- 
logical Survey, however, recognize Alleghany, though admitting its 
inaccuracy. 

7. There is a low, but not well-defined ridge along the eastern 
border, sometimes called the Skinnemunk Range. It is generally 
considered a part of the Taghanic folds. On Manhattan Island, 
where it is known as Washington Heights, it separates the Hudson 
and Harlem (or Haarlem) rivers. The ridge between the east and 
the west branch of the Delaware River is commonly called Delaware 
Mountain. 



94 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STA7E. 



8. The following are a few of the principal altitudes: 



Adirondack Mountains. 

Feet. 

Colden Mountain 4708 

Dix's Peak 4916 

Dix's Peak *52co 

Gothic Mountain 4744 

Gray Peak 4984 

Mclntyre Mountain 5403 

Mclntyre Mountain *5334 

McMartin INIountain 5000 

Skylight Mountain 4978 

S. Mclntyre Mountain 4938 

Whiteface Mountain 4955 

VV'hiteface Mountain *49oo 

Catskill lifoutitains. 

Balsam Mountain 3601 

Cornell Mountain 3681 

Deep Hollow Mountain 3500 

Doubletop 3875 

Eagle Mountain 3560 

High Peak 3664 

Hunter Mountain 4038 

Kimball Mountain 3960 

Mink Mountain 3807 

Pantherkill Mountain .3828 

Peak-o'-Moose 3875 

Round Top 3500 

Rusk Mountain 3626 



Slide Mountain 4205 

Table Mountain 3S65 

Lakes. 

Avalanche 2856 

Beaver 1 409 

Catskill 2140 

Cayuga 3S8 

Cedar 2530 

Champlain gi 

Chautauqua 1291 

Colden 2748 

Crooked 2c 22 

Erie 

George 

Henderson 

Long 

Lower Saranac 

Moss 

Oneida 3C0 

Ontario 247 

Otsego 1054 

Rich 1547 

Seneca 370 

Skaneateles 932 

Tear of Clouds 4327 

Upper Saranac 1567 

Woodhull 2019 



• 573 
- 324 
. 183S 

■1534 
•1527 
.4312 



Cities, etc. 

Albany (N. Y. C. Ry. Sta.) 30 Fort Edwards. 

Albany (Mean tide, Hudson R.). 6 

Albion 547 

A ttica 998 

Auburn 674 

Batavia 895 

Binghamton 868 

Buffalo 584 

Canandaigua 740 

Carthage 740 

Cortland 11 16 

Corning 942 

Dunkirk 598 

Elmira 863 

Fredonia 765 



Geneva 

Herkimer 

Ilornellsville 

Ithaca 

Kingston 

Little Falls 

Lockport 

Newburgh 

New York (Canal St.) 

New York (42d St.) 

New York (issth St.& loth Ave.) 
Niagara Falls (Erie Ry. Sta.). . . 

Ogdensburgh 

Oneida 



141 

459 
507 
1 iCi 

392 

186 

376 

600 

25 

12 

50 

164 

574 



* Appalachian Club. 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



95 



Cities, etc. — Continued. 

Feet. I Feet. 

Owego 301 ! Saranac 1488 



Peekskill 7 

Pinehill 1889 

Plattsburgh 119 

Poughkeepsie (N. Y.C. Ry. Sta.). 139 
Rochester (N.Y.C. Ry. Sta.)... . 508 
Rome 445 



Saratoga 265 

Schenectady 246 

Syracuse 403 

Troy 16 

Utica 410 

Watertovvn 455 



Salamanca 1384 | Waverly. 



The foregoing elevations are mainly on the atithority of the Adi- 
rondack Survey and the Appalachian Club. Those of the cities are 
in nearly every case the altitudes of the railway stations, and have 
been taken from the various railway surveys. The altitude of 
Tahawas is variously given. Two different determinations by the 
Adirondack Survey give 5403 and 5334 feet ; that of Professor 
Gu3'Ot was 5379 feet. 

g. The lower of these terraces is called the Lake Ridge, and from 
Sodus Point nearly to Niagara River it is distinct and but little 
broken. It ma)' be traced even beyond Niagara River, quite to the 
head of Lake Ontario, but beyond the river its continuity is grcath' 
interrupted. Throughout its extent in New York, the ridge or ter- 
race is a remarkable feature, being interrupted onl}' by the channels 
of the streams that flow into the lake. " It bears all the marks of 
having been the boundary of a large lake, and of having been pro- 
duced in the same manner as the beaches of the ocean. Its distance 
varies from three to eight miles from the lake." (H.all : Gcol. Survey.) 
The terrace is by no means absolutely level ; but its inequalities, 
except where broken hv stream-beds, do not vary more than a few 
feet — an amount readily accounted for by surface erosion. Its width 
varies from a few feet to several rods. The top soil is mainly sand 
and coarse gravel ; the lower layers are composed of silt and various 
kinds of shore-drift. The upper terrace is commonl}* known as the 
Mountain Ridge, and it is thought to be due to the unccjual erosion 
or wearing of the rock where the edges of two up-turned strata — the 
upper being the harder — join. Falls, cascades, and dalles mark the 
passage of the rivers where they descend from the upper to the lower 
level. 



gS GEOGRArilY OF NEW YORK ST A TE. 

10. The St. Lawrence has a varied course. Beginning in Minne- 
sota as the St. Louis River, it flows into and fills the basin of Lake 
Superior. At the eastern end of this lake it overflows into the nar- 
row channel known as the Sault de Ste. Marie, falling twenty-two 
feet in its course to Lake Huron. At the lower end of Lake Huron 
it becomes the St. Clair, and below Lake St. Clair, Detroit River. 
Between Lakes Huron and Erie it falls five feet. In flowing from 
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario it is known as Niagara River, and by the 
time the waters have reached the latter lake, they are 226 feet nearer 
the sea-level, 156 of which constitute the Falls of Niagara. From 
Kingston to a point fifty miles below, the river is thickly studded 
with islands. The archipelago is collectively called the Thousand 
Islands, but the number exceeds this by five hundred or more. A 
few of these are Canadian possessions, but most of them are included 
in the State of New York. Beyond the Thousand Islands the river 
flows with a swift current, sometimes spreading out in broad lacus- 
trine sheets, sometimes pouring its flood through narrow passage- 
ways, and again shooting down steep inclines with torrential veloc- 
ity. One of these rapids. La Chine, is almost a cascade, yet so deep 
are the waters that passenger steamers daily pass over it without un- 
usual danger. Freight vessels and ascending craft avoid the rapids 
by going through Rideau Canal. By means of this canal, and another 
(Welland) between Lakes Erie and Ontario, vessels from Liverpool 
may unload at Chicago or Duluth — commercial centres nearly fifteen 
hundred miles within the heart of the continent. 

11. The lower part of the Hudson is bordered on its west bank by 
a dike of trap rock in places nearly 200 feet high. This rock, it is 
thought, was extended in a molten state through a vast fissure that 
may be traced from Rockland into northern Pennsylvania. During 
the Glacial epoch the surface of eastern New York was much higher 
than at present. The old bed of the Hudson River may be still 
traced a distance of more than seventy-five miles south-east of Sandy 
Hook. Although the Hudson has probablv alwa^^s flowed in the 
present lower channel, it seems probable that the latter was not due 
to surface erosion and corrasion, — which was the case in its upper 
course, — but was formed rather by a' bending and fracture of the 
surface strata. During the Glacial epoch it is likely that the dcpres- 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 97 

sion now known as the Mohawk Valley was made — arising chiefly 
from the erosion due to glaciers, but, in part, possibly due to a slight 
pre-existing depression. When in the Champlain period the land 
subsided below its present level, a part, at least, of the waters of 
Lake Ontario were discharged through the Mohawk depression into 
the lower Hudson. 

12. A kill IS a narrow tidal channel extending for a considerable 
distance into, or cutting off part of the mainland. The word is of 
Dutch origin, and was frequently employed in the early settlement 
of New York. Kill Van KuU and Arthur Kill (formerly Achtyr, i. e. 
after Kill) separate Staten Island from the mainland. Coney Island 
is separated from Long Island by a kill. Spuyten Duyvel is a creek 
flowing into the kill that separates Manhattan Island from the main- 
land. Along the New England coast a kill was generally called a 
creek, and the latter word is still occasionally used in this sense along 
the estuaries of the Maine shores. 

13. North River is a wide body of water everywhere with depth 
sufficient to float the largest steamers. It is very rarely frozen over 
below Spuyten Duyvel Creek. 

14. East River, on the contrary, is narrow, tortuous, and swept 
by swift tidal currents. At a passage which is perhaps not the nar- 
rowest, but certainl}' the most crooked part, it is known as the Hell- 
gate (a corruption of horll gat, or whirling strait), and has been an 
exceedingly dangerous passage for vessels. Some )'ears ago, how- 
ever, all of the more dangerous rocks were removed bj' blasting, 
and the channel, though narrow, is comparatively safe. A part of 
the waters of the rising tide entering New York Bay advance through 
East River ; another part enters at the opposite end, from the Sound. 
In both instances the advancing wave acquires a swifter velocity be- 
cause of the gradual narrowing of the channel, and the two waves, 
meeting between Blackwell's Island and Throg's Neck, result in 
tumultuous, swirling currents that few vessels could stem. 

15. The Great Lakes, four of which are practically continuous, 
form the largest inland body of fresh-water in the world. Their 
combined area is about three times that of Aral Lake, and three- 
fifths that of Caspian Lake. With the possible exception of Victoria 
Lake, either of the three largest lakes is unsurpassed in size. Lakes 



98 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



Erie and Ontario together are about the size of Lake Baikal. The 
following table shows the principal elements of the Great Lakes : 



Name. 



Superior . 

Huron 

Michigan 

Erie 

Ontario . . 



Area. 



31,500 sq. m. 

23,100 " 

23,150 " 

7800 " 

6900 " 



Depth. 

1008 ft. 
702 " 
810 " 
120 " 
734 " 



A Ititude. 



600 ft. 
578 " 
578 " 
573 " 
247 " 



— Their drainage-basin is hardly greater than twice the area of the 
lakes themselves, and the annual rain-fall of the basin (about thirty- 
six inches), less the amount lost by evaporation, represents the 
quantity of water discharged by the St. Lawrence River. The rim 
of the basin is, in most places, a low one. At Chicago, the divide 
between Lake Michigan and Des Plaines River, whose waters iinally 
are poured into the Gulf of Mexico, is less than a quarter of a mile 
from the lake shore. It is so low that water lifted four feet from the 
lake runs into Des Plaines River. In Minnesota, the head-waters 
of Arrow River, a tributary to Lake Superior, is separated from the 
Arctic basin by a divide about half a mile across. During previous 
geological times, the basin of these lakes, and the amount of water 
it held, was much larger than at the present time. The five lakes 
were then one vast sheet of water that discharged its overflow 
through the St. Lawrence, the Mohawk depression, and Des Plaines 
River of Illinois. With the subsiding of the floods of the Champlain 
period, the waters, in part, disappeared. The great inland lake be- 
came the five Great Lakes, leaving a number of small basins near 
their margin wholly or partly filled. Calumet, Kankakee, and Hor- 
icon marshes, along the borders of Lake Michigan, are among the 
larger of these obliterated lake-basins. 

16. Among the lakes of the Adirondack group are a few which 
have no outlet except at times of unusual rains. Because of the ab- 
sence of soluble mineral matter in the rocks which compose their 
drainage-basins, their waters are fresh. In one or two of these lakes, 
the overflow of the basin rarely, if ever, occurs. 

17. Of the lakes of the central group, Seneca is the largest and most 
important. Owing to its great depth, 530 feet, it never freezes, al- 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



99 



though an ice-foot sometimes forms around the shores. At the up- 
per end is Watkins Glen, a water-worn gorge, in some places about 
three hundred feet deep. Through this miniature Colorado canon, 
the water pours in a succession of cascades and rapids. Au Sable 
Chasm, in the Adirondack region, is a similar example of earth- 
sculpture. 

i8. The climate of the Adirondack region is modified both by 
latitude and altitude, and the winters in the Northern highlands are 
arctic in their severity. Along the St. Lawrence, they are also very 
severe, for not only is the cold intense, but the region of the Great 
Lakes and the valley of the St. Lawrence is a very common track for 
storms originating in the west. The following table shows the local 
variation within the limits of the state : 





Lat. 


Lon^. 


Eleva- 
tion. 


Av. Summer 
Temp. 


Av. Winter 
Temp. 


Rainfall. 


Moriches, L. I.. 
New York City. 

Albany 

Rochester 

Plattsburgh 

Buffalo 


40° 49' 
40° 42' 
42° 40' 
43" 08' 
44° 41' 
42° 53' 


72° 36' 
74° 

74° 45' 
77° 51' 
73° 25' 
78° 55' 



100 
150 
52s 
186 
660 


70 
70 
68 
66 
64 
66 


34 
31 
24 
24 
18 
24 


54-7 

44.6 

41. 

32.6 

33-4 

34-8 



19. River floods of disastrous character are less frequent in New 
York than in many of the other Middle Atlantic States. The reason 
for this lies mainly in the fact that less of the timber and shrubbery 
about the head-waters of the streams, especially those heading in 
the Adirondack and Catskill mountains, has been cut away. By 
clearing away the timber and shrubbery, the water falling on the 
steeper slopes of a basin gathers all the more quickly into the 
stream-bed, and thus a flood may result after a continuous, heavy 
rain. A dense growth of vegetation greatly retards the accumulation 
of water in the stream-bed, and hence the State of New York has 
wisely set off much of the Adirondack region as a forest preserve, 
forbidding the removal of any of the timber. The disastrous floods 
of the Ohio River, during which the water at one time rose sevent)'- 
one feet above low-water mark, is a direct- result of clearing every 
available stick of timber from the slopes of a river-basin. The floods 



lOO GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

in the Susquehanna and its tributaries, and in many other rivers of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, equally destructive to life and property, 
have arisen from the same cause. 

20. Soil is formed by the disintegration of rock. The latter, by 
the action of moisture, air, vegetation, and chemical decaj', falls to 
pieces and becomes pulverized. Moisture ma}' act in several wa3's. 
When water sinks into the pores of the rock and freezes, the expan- 
sion of the water at the moment of freezing causes small pieces of 
rock to be chipped ofT the surface. Running water, carrying these 
along, scours off still more material. By combining with the ele- 
ments of the rock, as in quicklime, water may act chemically as 
well, and thus break it up ; or by giving off the water it holds in 
chemical combination, the rock may in consequence crumble. In 
this manner certain hard, dark-grey rocks are changed to friable, red 
loams. Growing vegetation, by means of its rootlets which find 
their wa}' into the crevices of rock, also wedge and break off even 
large pieces. Soil that has never been moved from the place where 
it has formed is said to be sedentary. That which has been carried 
down the slopes and spread over the flood-plains of valleys by run- 
ning water, is called alluvial {ad, to ; luere, to wash), or fuviatile 
{Jluvius, a river) soil. Growing vegetation contains among its con- 
stituents phosphoric acid, potash, lime, silica (of which sand is an 
example), nitrogen compounds (ammonia, etc.), and water. There- 
fore, if the soil does not contain all these elements it is net fertile. 
If there be no phosphoric acid compounds, the seed will not mature 
and reproduce. If the potash be absent, neither the stalk nor the 
seed will be plump. If there be insutficient nitrogenous matter, the 
plant will be small and sickly ; and if the silica is absent, the stalk 
may not be stiff enough to stand upright. But water, the blood of 
the plant, is the most essential element, and every plant contains 
from three-fourths to nine-tenths of it. 

21. The extermination of animals is brought about in several 
ways. By cutting down the forests, animals whose natural habitat, 
or dwelling-place, is in forests will migrate to regions where the 
forests have not been removed. Animals which prey upon the prop- 
erty of the farmer are systematically destroyed, in order to protect 
the more helpless domestic kinds. But by far the most potent agent 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. loi 

is the arm)' of hunters, who commit the most wanton destruction 
merely for tire pleasure of killing. 

22. The United States Fish Commission was established for the 
purpose of restocking- rivers, lakes, and certain littoral waters in 
which food-fish had been exterminated, and also for stocking the 
waters with foreign varieties. Hatcheries have been constructed at va- 
rious localities, where the spawn is hatched and the young fry reared 
until they are able to take care of themselves. There is an extensive 
hatchery at Wood's HoU, Massachusetts. Several valuable species 
of food-fish have been recently acclimated in the waters of the state. 

23. For the better preservation of the forests of the state, all the 
state lands in the counties of Clinton (excepting certain lands in Al- 
tona and Dannemora), Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, 
Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, 
and Washington are reserved from sale. These lands constitute the 
"Forest Preserve" of the state, and the cutting of timber within 
their limits is forbidden. 

24. "Granite is found in the Adirondack region and along the 
Hudson ; white marble, in Westchester and St. Lawrence counties ; 
roofing-slate, in Washington County ; red marble, in Orange County ; 
black marble, at Glen's Falls ; verde-antique, at Moriah and Thur- 
man. Sandstone occurs at Potsdam and at Medina ; shell-limestone, 
at Lockport-on-the-Hudson ; excellent flagging, from Kingston ; 
and paving-stone, from the trap-rock of the Palisades. Hydraulic 
cement occurs at Rondout, Manlius, and Akron ; and gypsum is 
found in Onondaga County." — Nevoberry. 

25. In some instances the salt is obtained from natural brines, but 
in most cases an artesian well is driven, the latter being piped from 
the surface to the salt-beds, which vary from a few hundred to nearly 
two thousand feet in depth. A pipe of smaller dimensions is then 
introduced into the well, leaving an annular space between the latter 
and the casing of the well. Water is forced into the well throuo-h 
the annular space, and allowed to remain in contact with the salt 
until it is saturated. It is then brought to the surface through the 
inner pipe. The magnesium salts are first precipitated by adding a 
small amount of quick-lime, and the water is then evaporated, leav- 
ing the salt in coarse crystals. In York, Livingston County, how- 



I02 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

ever, the salt is mined, a shaft having been sunk upon the beds. In 
1890, the estimated yield of salt was 20,000,000 bushels. 

26. The medicinal properties of these springs are due to the salts 
of the " alkaline " metals, — sodium, magnesium, calcium, and lith- 
ium, — which their waters hold in solution. In many of them is an 
abundance of carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas), to which the pal- 
atable qualities of the waters are owing. The Sharon springs are 
"sulphur" springs. Mineral springs obtain their characteristic 
properties by dissolving the salts from the rocks through which the 
water percolates. All natural waters contain more or less of mineral 
salts, but when the salts are in such proportion as to impart a per- 
ceptible taste to the water, the latter is called " mineral water." 

27. Of the various departments, the judiciary ranks the highest. 
It can declare inoperative any law not in accord with the Constitu- 
tion, and it can release from confinement an}' prisoner who has not 
had a legal trial. It can also prevent the Governor, or any other 
executive officer, from doing an illegal act. The Constitution is the 
supreme law of the state, and all statutory laws and executive acts 
must be in accordance with its provisions, otherwise they are null 
and void. The powers of the different branches, however, are not 
very strictly drawn. The Governor of the state can pardon a crim- 
inal — a judicial function ; a judge can order the arrest of a citizen — 
an executive function ; the Legislature may decide upon the legality 
of the election of its own members— a judicial act. 

28. When the Governor, or certain other officers, is charged with 
misdemeanor in office, he is tried before the Court of Impeachment. 
This tribunal consists of the Senators and Justices of the Court of 
Appeals. The penalty inflicted by this court cannot extend beyond 
removal from office, but the offending officer may be tried before the 
proper court for any misdemeanor or crime against the law. 

29. It is well to bear in mind that it is the jury and not the judge 
which tries a prisoner charged with crime. The Constitution of the 
United States guarantees every prisoner the right to a trial before a 
jury of his peers, and no state nor statutory law can deprive him of 
this right. In municipal police-courts, however, the prisoner usually 
waives the right to jury trial. 

30. The State Normal Schools are located at Albany, Brock port, 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



103 



Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, New Paltz, Oswego, Oneonta, 
Plattsburgh, and Potsdam. There is a Normal College for Women 
at New York City, and schools for deaf-mutes at Buffalo, Malone, 
Rochester, and New York City, three being in the latter place. 

31. The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New 
York consists of nineteen members, chosen by the Legislature and 
the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretar)' of State, and Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, ex-officio. All, except the last four, 
are elected for life. The Board charters all colleges and institutions 
that confer degrees upon their graduates, and exercises supervision 
over all educational institutions supported wholly or in part by the 
state. It also carries on a system of examinations in secondary and 
higher studies, awarding diplomas of proficiency and certificates of 
fitness to enter college. 

32. The following are the principal institutions for higher and 
professional education : 

Alfred University Alfred. 

American Museum of Natural History New York. 

Bellevue Medical College " 

Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute Brooklyn. 

Canisius College BuflFalo. 

College of the City of New York New York. 

CoUese of Dentistry " 

College of St. Francis Xavier " 

Columbia College " 

Cooper Institute " 

Cornell University (for men and women) Ithaca. 

Drew Seminary and Female College Carniel. 

Elmira Female College Elmira. 

Hamilton College Clinton. 

Hobart College Geneva. 

Ingham University Leroy. 

Manhattan College New York. 

National Academy of Design " 

St. John's College " 

St. Joseph's College Buffalo. 

St. Lawrence University Canton 

St. Stephen's College Anandale. 

Syracuse University Syracuse. 

Union College Schenectady. 

University of City of New York New York. 

University of Rochester Rochester. 

Vassar College (for women) Poughkeepsie. 

Wells College Aurora. 



I04 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK SPATE. 



33. The surface of the state is too rugged and the land too valu- 
able for grain-farming on an extensive scale. In grain-farming, the 
cost of harvesting the crop is one of the chief items of expense ; and 
where the land is not level, it is materially greater, because it is 
difficult, or perhaps impossible, to move the heavy grain-cutting 
machinery over hilly land. On the level prairie land of Illinois, and 
in the Sacramento Valle}', the headers for cutting the grain in some 
instances clear a swath from twenty to thirty feet in width. The 
use of such machinery would be impossible on rugged land. Be- 
sides, in New York the land is more valuable per acre than in the 
Mississippi Valley, and must therefore be made to produce an 
increased value of product ; and this can only be accomplished by a 
more careful cultivation than is needed in grain-growing regions. 
This, together with a dense population, has resulted in small farms 
and variety of product. 

34. In no other state in the Union is so much attention paid to 
improved breeds of cattle. As a result, New York not only sur- 
passes every other state in the value of dairy products, but the 
qualit)' is not excelled in any other part of the world. 

35. The character of the manufactured product differs materially 
from that of the New England States. In the latter, light machinery, 
jewelry, fancy articles, and textile fabrics are the principal articles. 
In New York, clothing, food-stuffs, heavy machinery, etc., are the 
main items. Among the special industries for which New York is 
noted are book-publishing, piano-making, diamond-cutting, map-, 
steel-, and wood-engraving, and art-printing. 

36. The menhaden is an oily fish, having a rank taste that renders 
it unpalatable as a food. On account of the nitrogenous matter 
(ammonium compounds), and phosphate of lime it contains, it makes 
the very best fertilizer for worn-out land. The oyster-beds are con- 
fined mainl}' to Long Island Sound ; the fisheries for whitefish at the 
eastern end of Lake Ontario, and the shad-fisheries to the lower 
part of Hudson River. 

37. In 1885, the iron-ore product of New York was surpassed by 
that of Michigan and Pennsylvania, and possibly by that of Alabama. 

38. The commercial prosperity of New York is due partly to its 
protected harbors, — New York Upper Bay, North River, and East 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



105 



River, — but quite as much to the existence of the depression Icnown 
as the Mohawk Valley. Up to the time of the Revolution, its popu- 
lation was only 22,000, and it ranked below Philadelphia and Boston. 
The completion of the Erie Canal was the beginning of an era of 
prosperity. Prior to that time, ships bringing cargoes to American 
ports usuall)' returned in ballast. After the completion of the canal, 
instead of returning in ballast they could reload with cargoes. 
Thus, New York became a port of export as well as import. But 
the canal would not have been constructed except for the low pass 
of the Mohawk Valley. This shows what a wonderful effect an 
apparently trivial physiographic condition may exert upon human 
history. The commerce of Boston, owing to the energy of her 
business-men, has not fallen below second or third place in rank of 
value ; that of Philadelphia has declined to fifth or sixth place, and 
is still falling away. 

39. Custom-houses have been established at or near Buffalo. 
Cape Vincent, Plattsburgh, Dunkirk, Rochester, New York City, 
Suspension Bridge, Ogdensburgh, Oswego, and Sag Harbor. 

40. The following are some of the principal lines of ocean 

steamers : 

Cunard New York and Liverpool. 

Inman " " " 

White Star " " " 

Guion " " " 

National " " " and London. 

Anchor " " Glasgow. 

Red Star " " Antwerp. 

Nord Deutsches Lloyd " " Southampton and Bremen. 

Compagnie General Transatlantique.. " '" Havre. 

Hamburg American " " Southampton and Hamburg. 

Thingvalla " " Copenhagen. 

Pacific Mail " " San Francisco. 

Red " D " " " South .\merican Ports. 

Mallory " " New Orleans. 

There are also lines to Philadelphia, Boston, Portland, Baltimore, 

Savannah, Galveston, and various ports in the West Indies. 

41. Excepting the New York Central, the Erie, and the Delaware, 
Lackawanna and Western, the trunk lines have scarcely a mile of 
track in the state. Their terminii are practically at Jersey City, and 
their New York connections are made by ferry across North River. 



io6 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



The same is true of the Philadelphia and Reading, the Central of 
New Jersey, and the various railways between New York City and 
the New England States. 

42. The following list includes other important railway's having 
their terminal stations in New York or at Jersey City : 



Adirondack. 

Albany and Susquehanna. 

Boston, Hoosac Tunnel, and Western. 

Brooklyn, Bath, and Coney Island. 

Buffalo and South-western. 

Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia. 

Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western. 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Co. 

Lake Ontario Southern. 

Long Island. 

Newburgh, Dutchess, and Connecticut. 

New Vork Elevated. 

New Vork and New England. 

New Yoik and Canada. 

New York, New Haven, and Hartford. 

New York and Brighton Beach. 

New York and Harlem. 



New York, Ontario and Western. 

New York and Sea Beach. 

New York City and Northern. 

New York, Woodhaven and Rockaway. 

Ogdensburgh and Lake Champlain. 

Poughkeepsie, Hartford, and Boston. 

Rensselaer and Saratoga. 

Rochester and Pittsburgh. 

Rliinebeck and Connecticut. 

Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburgh. 

Southern Central. 

Syracuse, Chenango, and New York. 

Troy and Boston. 

Ulster and Delaware. 

Utica and Black River. 

West Shore. 



43. It is by no means certain by whom or at what time New York 
Bay was discovered. Among others, it is asserted that Verrazano 
entered it in the ship Dauphlne, in 1524. It is not improbable that 
Lief Eriksen may have visited it five hundred years previous to that 
time. There is no question of doubt, however, concerning Hudson's 
voj'age and discover}^ of the river. The latter he named North River, 
to distinguish it from the Delaware, which he called South River. 
This river was afterward called Mauritius by the Dutch; by the 
Indians it bore the name of Mahiccannic, the "Stream from the 
Mountains," East River, it is thought, was discovered by Adrian 
Block, a Dutch sailor. His vessel was probably the first to force 
the passage of the Hellgate. 

44. The Dutch were prosperous colonists, and their policy was a 
wise one. In order to encourage permanent settlements, the Dutch 
West India Company offered a grant of land of indefinite width 
sixteen miles along the shore of any navigable stream, or four miles 
along both shores, to any one who should establish a colony of fifty 
or more persons within four years. Such grantees were called 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 



107 



Patroons. The Patroon was to be absolute " lord of the manor," and 
his colony was to serve him for ten years. Every manorial servant 
was exempt from taxation during the period of his service. The 
colonists were permitted almost every privilege they wished, but 
they were forbidden to manufacture cloth, this being the perquisite 
of the company. The Patroons soon became a troublesome landed 
aristocracy, and their obstinacy and overbearing conduct added no 
little to the desire of the people to shake off Dutch rule. Traces of 
tlieir customs exist among their descendants in New York City 
even to the present day. 

45. The claim to the right of soil by virtue of Cabot's discoveries 
was a flimsy pretext to obtain the control of the Dutch possessions. 
The immediate excuse was a charge of smuggling ; the real animus 
was the loss to English merchants of trade which had accrued to the 
more thrifty Dutch traders. A treaty with the Dutch, ten j^ears 
before English occupation, had recognized their right and title to the 
region. The charter given by Henry VII. permitted "John and his 
sons to explore any seas with five ships, at their own expense, and 
occupy any isles or countries of the heathen or infidel before un- 
known to Christians, accounting to the king for a fifth part of the 
profits." There is no evidence that the Cabots ever availed them- 
selves of this charter, or, in fact, that the elder Cabot ever made a 
voyage to the New World. Sebastian Cabot made his first voyage 
after the death of his father. He discovered the island to which, on 
his return from a voyage along the Labrador coast, he named New 
Found Land. It seems certain, too, that he coasted along the shores 
of Maine. 

46. Robert Fulton, the owner and builder of the Clermont, the first 
steamboat that plied upon the Hudson, was not the originator of 
steam navigation. In 1784 James Rumsey built a steamboat that was 
successfully tried on the Potomac River. A few years later John 
Fitch, a citizen of Connecticut, received a patent for a boat to be 
propelled b}- steam. A company was formed, and a steam packet- 
boat built, which made regular trips until the failure of the company 
in 1790. About that time, John Stevens built a boat, which derived 
its power from a tubular boiler and a screw propeller. In 1803 a 
steam vessel was used in one of the estuaries of Scotland. The 



io8 GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

Clermont was built in 1809, and was a better and more successful 
boat than any of her predecessors. In 1817, while the possibilities of 
steam navigation of the ocean were discussed, a learned savant wrote 
a pamphlet to prove that such an undertaking was impossible of 
success. During that 3-ear a package of these pamphlets was taken 
to England by the Savannah, the first steamship that ever crossed the 
ocean. 

47. Because of its geographical environments, New York can 
grow practically in one direction only — up in the air. The long and 
narrow island has, therefore, become the most densely populated 
area in the world. For this reason, business blocks in the "down- 
town " part of the cit}' are frequently built eight, ten, and twelve 
stories high, and the " up-town " residences are too often flats, apart- 
ment, and tenement houses, where perhaps a hundred or more peo- 
ple may dwell under one roof. Notwithstanding the elevated and 
the numerous street-railwaj'S, the task of carrying the people between 
their homes and business-places, in a reasonable length of time, has 
become almost a physical impossibility. Broadwa)', the principal 
street of the city, is about twelve miles long. Fourth, Fifth, Madi- 
son, and Lexington avenues, and the cross-town streets from Four- 
teenth to Central Park, are the principal residence streets. Wall 
and Pine streets are the financial heart of the city. Washington 
Heights, a beautiful suburb, contains some of the finest residences. 
It is a high ridge overlooking the Hudson River. 

48. Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most wonderful illustrations of 
engineering skill in the world, is about 6000 feet long. It is sus- 
pended from two massive towers, each 278 feet high, the whole 
structure hanging in mid-air from four huge cables, each sixteen 
inches in diameter, and each made up of nineteen smaller cables. The 
ends of the cables are anchored in the solid masonry approaches 
leading to the suspended part of the bridge. The cables excepted, 
the suspended portion of the bridge is in two sections, which meet 
in the centre. The ends of the sections are not joined solidly, but 
slip upon a number of huge bolts. The reason for this is the great 
amount of expansion and contraction of the iron-work with the vary- 
ing temperature between summer and winter. This ordinarily 
amounts to about eleven inches. The bridge affords passage-way 



GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 109 

for a double-track cable-railwaj', and also a double passage-way for 
carriages. Over the railway track is a broad promenade for foot- 
passengers. At the spring of the arch, the bridge is 135 feet above 
the surface of the water, so that the largest vessels can pass under 
it. The traffic between the two cities has grown to such proportions 
that the bridge is insufficient for the wants of travel, and another one 
is in contemplation. A tunnel is in progress under North River, to 
connect New York with Jersey City. 

49. These basins are artificial harbors, constructed for the con- 
venience of shipping. Most of the boats belonging to the extensive 
system of canals are brought to these basins, where their cargoes are 
transferred to sea-going vessels. Among other enterprises belong- 
ing to Brooklyn is the Simpson Dry-dock, recently completed. This 
dry-dock is one of the largest in the world, and is designed for the 
mammoth ocean steamships which are now used between New York 
and European ports. The dry-dock is intended to facilitate the re- 
pair of damages to the hulls of vessels. The vessel is floated into 
the dock, and the water is then pumped out of the latter, thereby 
leaving free access to any part of the vessel's outer hull. 

50. Brooklyn is largely a place of residence for business-men of 
New York, and the completion of the bridge and the elevated roads 
have greatly added to this class of population. Within the past few 
years considerable additional territory has been annexed to the 
municipality, so that now its area includes about one-half of Kings 
County. 

50. The elevator consists of a storehouse and the necessary ma- 
chinery for transferring grain. The latter is essentiall)' a wide belt, 
armed with large scoops, stretched upon rapidly-revolving wheels, 
the whole being enclosed in a chute. The latter is attached to the 
warehouse building in such a manner that one end can be lowered 
into the hold of the vessel. The machinery is then set in motion, 
and the scoops quickly transfer the grain from the vessel to the bins 
of the warehouse. 

51. The Genesee River is navigable for small craft to the northern 
end of the city, below the falls, but the difficulties of navigation are 
so great as to preclude any commercial advantages therefrom. 
Amons the other large cities not on navigable waters are Minne- 



no GEOGRAPHY OF NEW YORK STATE. 

apolis, Minn. (pop. 200,000), above the Falls of St. Anthony ; Los 
Angeles, Cal. (pop. 95,000) ; and Indianapolis, Ind. (pop. go,ooo). 
The river at Rochester makes three vertical falls of 96, 24, and 84 feet. 

52. The salt springs were first brought to notice by Jesuit mission- 
aries in 1654, and for more than fifty years afterward salt was man- 
ufactured under their direction, by Indians. The wells are now 
partly under control of the state. Syracuse was first named Bogardus 
Corners. Its name was subsequently changed several times ; in 
1824, to the present name. Since that time, the city has absorbed 
several suburban villages. 

53. For many years Utica was the residence of the late Roscoe 
Conkling. 

54. Auburn was the residence of William H. Seward, statesman, 
and Secretary of State under President Lincoln. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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